Gray fox ( Urocyon cinereoargenteus ) parasite diversity in central Mexico

Abstract

Mexico has a long history of parasitological studies in communities of vertebrates. However, the mega diversity of the country makes fauna inventories an ongoing priority. Presently, there is little published on the parasite fauna of gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus Schereber, 1775) and this study provides new records of parasites for gray foxes in central Mexico. It is a continuation of a series of previous parasitological studies conducted with this carnivore in Mexico from 2003 to the present. A total of 24 foxes in the Parque Nacional El Cimatario (PANEC) were trapped, anaesthetized, and parasites recovered. The species found were Dirofilaria immitis, Ctenocephalides canis, C. felis, Euhoplopsillus glacialis affinis (first report for gray foxes in Mexico) Pulex simulants, and Ixodes sp. Three additional gray fox carcasses were necropsied and the parasites collected were adult nematodes Physaloptera praeputialis and Toxocara canis. The intensive study of the gray fox population selected for the 2013–2015 recent period allowed for a two-fold increase in the number of parasite species recorded for this carnivore since 2003 (nine to 18 parasite species), mainly recording parasitic arthropods, Dirofilaria immitis filariae and adult nematodes. The parasite species recorded are generalists that can survive in anthropic environments; which is characteristic of the present ecological scenario in central Mexico. The close proximity of the PANEC to the city of Santiago de Queretaro suggests possible parasite transmission between the foxes and domestic and feral dogs. Furthermore, packs of feral dogs in the PANEC might have altered habitat use by foxes, with possible impacts on transmission.

Drivers of flea (Siphonaptera) community structure in sympatric wild carnivores in northwestern Mexico

“…In addition, T. aridis has been collected from hooded skunks ( Mephitis macroura ) in Mexico (Acosta et al ). E. glacialis is a flea that usually infests lagomorphs (Larson et al ) but has also been collected from gray foxes in Mexico (Hernández‐Camacho et al ) and in the U.S. (Harrison et al ). Oropsylla montana , a flea typically associated with ground squirrel hosts, especially Spermophilus variegatus (Lewis ), has also been commonly found on skunks from north America (Mead , Hubbard , Brinkerhoff ).…”

Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria striata (Spirurida: Onchocercidae) detected in wild carnivores from Texas, United States

“…The apparent absence of D. immitis in gray foxes could be attributed to the limited opportunistic sample size available in the current study. There have been several reports of D. immitis in gray foxes across areas of the U.S. and Mexico, often in low prevalence ( Simmons et al, 1980 ; Carlson and Nielsen, 1983 ; Hernández-Camacho et al, 2016 ).…”