Fecal Ciliate Composition of Domestic Horses (Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758) Living in Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

Species composition and distribution of intestinal ciliates were investigated in the feces from 15 domestic horses living in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Twenty-three species belonging to 14 genera were identified. This is the first study on intestinal ciliates in domestic horses living in Kyrgyzstan. The mean number of ciliates was 14.1 ± 6.8 x10(4) cells ml(-1) of feces and the mean number of ciliate species per host was 6.0 ± 3.2. No endemic or new species were detected. Blepharocorys was the major genus as these ciliates were detected in high proportions. In contrast Holophryoides, Allantosoma were only observed at low frequencies. Recorded ciliate species in this investigation had almost the same characteristics as those described in previous studies. There was no important geographic variation in the intestinal ciliate fauna of equids.

Report on ciliates from the hindgut of horses in Iceland

“…A. Kornilova, L. V. Chistyakova, O. G. Kamyshatskaya Adam 1951;2 -Hsiung 1936;3 -Strelkow 1939;4 -Strelkow 1939, Gurelli et al 20155 -Kornilova 2006;6 -Ito et al 1996;7 -Gurelli, Gocmen 2011;8 -Kornilova 2003. An estimate for the frequency of occurrence of species is given in the legend: "+++" often, "++" average, "+" single individuals Fig.…”

Ciliates as Symbionts

“…Symbiotic systems between ciliates/animals are present in a broad spectrum of kingdom Animalia, and some examples are the following (animal group alphabetically arranged, different taxonomic levels): acari: [75]; amphipods: [76]; antilope: [77]; anuran: [78]; Asian elephant: [79]; baboon: [80]; bryozoans: [81]; buffaloes: [82]; capybara: [83][84][85]; cattle: [86]; chimpanzees: [87]; cirripedians: [88]; crustaceans: [89]; ctenophores: [90]; cuttlefish: [91]; dromedary camels: [92]; elephants: [93]; fishes: [94,95]; frogs: [96]; great apes: [97]; horses: [98,99]; humans: [100,101]; polyps of hydras: [102]; insects: [103]; isopods: [104, 105]; kinorhynchs: [106]; llamas: [107]; maccacus: [108]; mammals: [109]; mollusks: [71,76]; nematodes: [29,110]; nemerteans: [13]; oligochaetes: [111,112]; ostracods: [113]; polychaetes: [114,115]; rhinoceroses: [116]; sea urchins:…”