Gastrointestinal parasite fauna of Emperor Penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) at the Atka Bay, Antarctica

Abstract

In general, the knowledge on parasites infecting Antarctic birds is scarce. The present study intends to extend the knowledge on gastrointestinal parasites of Emperor Penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) at the Atka Bay, Antarctica. Fecal samples of 50 individual Emperor Penguins were collected at the Atka Bay and analyzed using the sodium-acetate-formaldehyde (SAF) method for the identification of intestinal helminth eggs and/or protozoan parasite stages. In addition, coproantigen ELISAs were performed to detect Cryptosporidium and Giardia infections. Overall, 13 out of 50 penguins proved parasitized (26%). The following stages of gastrointestinal parasites were identified: One Capillaria sp. egg, Tetrabothrius spp. eggs, Diphyllobothrium spp. eggs, and proglottids of the cestode Parorchites zederi. The recorded Capillaria infection represents a new host record for Emperor Penguins. All coproantigen ELISAs for the detection of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. were negative. This paper provides current data on parasites of the Emperor Penguin, a protected endemic species of the Antarctica.

Viruses associated with Antarctic wildlife: From serology based detection to identification of genomes using high throughput sequencing

“…Gastrointestinal parasites, particularly cestode and nematode species, are commonly found in Antarctic seals and penguins. Penguins tend to have a low diversity of parasites and similar profiles have been identified among penguins of the same genus (Diaz et al, 2016(Diaz et al, , 2013Fonteneau et al, 2011;Kleinertz et al, 2014;Vidal et al, 2012). Of the Antarctic seals, gastrointestinal parasites are most prevalent among Weddell and leopard seals.…”

Microbial Community Structure Driven by a Volcanic Gradient in Glaciers of the Antarctic Archipelago South Shetland

“…In the central islands, psychrophilic microorganisms were more abundant (Polaribacter, Polaromonas, and Psychrobacter) ( Table S2). The eastern islands are those that suffer the greatest human pressure and their glaciers contain microorganisms typical of human (Enterobacteriaceae, Helicobacter) or animal contamination (i.e., the microeukaryote Cryptosporidium) (Tables S2 and S3) [18,36]. Figure S3 represents the abundance of some microbial species that could be related to human and animal contamination.…”

Macroparasites in Antarctic Penguins

“…The core component of the helminth fauna of Antarctic penguins are cestodes, mainly Parorchites zederi (Dilepididae). This species is the only cyclophyllidean present in pelagic birds and is widely distributed among Antarctic penguins, including the three pygoscelid species and the Emperor penguin (Cielecka et al 1992;Vidal et al 2012;Diaz et al 2013Diaz et al , 2016Kleinertz et al 2014). The presence of Cyclophyllidea eggs has also been demonstrated in the feces of Adélie penguins (Fredes et al 2008), and it is reasonable to presume these were P. zederi.…”

“…X (3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11) Georgiev et al (1996), (27) Andersen and Lysfjord (1982), (28) Dimitrova et al (1996), 29 Undetermined species of Tetrabothrius were also mentioned in Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic regions (Barbosa and Palacios 2009;Kleinertz et al 2014). Eggs of Diphyllobothrium sp.…”

“…Eggs of Diphyllobothrium sp. have been documented in fecal samples of Emperor (Kleinertz et al 2014) and only in one Gentoo penguin specimen (Gonzalez-Acuña et al 2013). Recently, some mature and gravid specimens identified as Diphyllobothrium sp.…”