Endoparasitic mites of the genus Endotrombicula Ewing, 1931 (Acari: Prostigmata: Parasitengona: Trombiculidae) from African and Madagascan anurans, with description of a new species

Abstract

Abstract.A sample of over 6,000 specimens of frogs belonging to about 120 species of all families occurring in West Africa and Madagascar were screened for parasitic mites. Three species of Endotrombicula Ewing, 1931 were found in representatives of two African and two Madagascan frog families. All Trombiculidae found in African frogs belonged to Endotrombicula pillersi (Sambon, 1928), whereas in Madagascar E. madagascariensis (Sambon, 1928) and E. ptychadenae sp. n. were sampled. These three species are described, data about their parasitic associations are provided, and their zoogeographical distribution is discussed. Only those frog species that spend a considerable time in terrestrial ground habitats were parasitized; neither arboreal nor strictly aquatic frogs were infected. The geographic distribution of Endotrombicula, restricted to Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Madagascar, suggests that these mites invaded Madagascar from the African continent. This is supported by the observation that the ancestors of Ptychadena mascareniensis (Duméril et Bibron) (Ptychadenidae), the host of E. ptychadenae, colonized Madagascar from the African continent quite recently, possibly accompanied by its Endotrombicula parasites.The phylogenetic relationships of amphibians have recently attracted much attention (e.g., Frost et al. 2006) and are often explained largely in terms of vicariance during the break-ups of the supercontinents Pangaea and Gondwana (Roelants and Bossuyt 2005). However, recent evidence suggests that amphibians are capable to disperse over marine barriers (Vences et al. 2003, 2004, Measey et al. 2006. Although current assembling of comprehensive molecular data sets leads to fast progress in the understanding of phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships among amphibians, independent data are needed to validate these often surprising results.In many cases, occurrence and phylogenies of parasites mirror those of their hosts and can therefore provide crucial evidence on their hosts' relationships; e.g., Bentz et al. (2001) for polystome plathelminths in amphibians. A further group of parasites regularly found in amphibians are mites, but systematic studies on these are relatively rare and mostly inaccurate. During recent herpetological field work in West Africa and Madagascar a number of frogs turned out to be infested with mite larvae of the genus Endotrombicula Ewing, 1931.Morphological analysis of the mites revealed that they belong to three distinct species. Because published descriptions did not allow unambiguous determination, we herein provide redescriptions of two known and the first description of one hitherto unknown species. Moreover, we discuss the putative geographic origin of Endotrombicula spp. in Madagascar. MATERIALS AND METHODSSpecimens of Endotrombicula were removed from hosts collected at various localities in Africa and Madagascar from August to April in 1992April in -2006. Collected frog specimens were anaesthetized in chlorobutanol solution, fixed in 95% and preserved in 70% etha...

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Taxonomy and distribution of African chiggers (Acariformes, Trombiculidae)

“…Reliable data on the coordinates of collection localities obtained with the use of satellite navigation systems occur in publications on chiggers since 2005 only (Brown 2006b(Brown , 2008Wohltmann et al 2007). All coordinates in older works are not reliable, because authors never reported a method for obtaining this information (by navigation instruments, by topographic maps, or with a reference bookin the case of coordinates of populated places).…”

A distinctive new frog species (Anura, Mantellidae) supports the biogeographic linkage of two montane rainforest massifs in northern Madagascar

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