Helminthofauna ofMicrotus (Microtus) cabrerae(Thomas, 1906) (Rodentia : Arvicolidae) in the Iberian Peninsula : faunistic and ecological considerations

Abstract

Faunistic and ecological study of parasitic helminths of Microtus (Microtus) cabrerae (Thomas, 1906)

Nematodes and cestodes of rodents in South Africa: baseline data on diversity and geographic distribution

“…This is in contrast to previous studies by Feliú et al . (1997, 2009). It is anticipated that the host range of most of these helminth species will increase with sampling intensity (i.e.…”

“…Small mammals and specifically rodents are known to harbour a diverse array of helminth parasites including acanthocephalans, trematodes, cestodes and nematodes, with the latter two taxa being the most common (Collins, 1972; Haukisalmi, 1989; Feliú et al ., 1997, 2009; Fuentes et al ., 2000; Wilamowski et al ., 2002; Portolés et al ., 2004; Smales & Spratt, 2004). Globally, acanthocephalans comprise more than 1200 species, nematodes some 10,500 species, cestodes approximately 5000 species and trematodes more than 15,000 species (Poulin, 2007).…”

“…Further, level of host specificity (host range) can affect the local abundance and geographic range of parasites, with generalist parasites (broad host range) often exhibiting higher abundances and larger geographic ranges (Krasnov et al , 2004; Poulin et al ., 2011) compared to specialist species (Price & Clancy, 1983; Gregory, 1990; Poulin, 2007). Helminth parasites of small mammals generally have broad host ranges, of which some species are restricted to confamilial host species (oligoxenous) while other species utilize a wide range of unrelated hosts (euryxenous) (Feliú et al ., 1997, 2009). For example, Mastophorus muris was recovered from members in the rodent family Muridae ( Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus) and Mus ( Mus ) musculus Linnaeus) (Milazzo et al ., 2005, 2010) as well as Arvicolidae ( Microtus ( Terricola ) duodecimcostatus (de Sélys-Longchamps) as Microtus ( Pitymys ) duodecimcostatus (de Sélys-Longchamps), and Myodes glareolus (Schreber) as Clethrionomys glareolus (Schreber)) (Haukisalmi et al ., 1988; Haukisalmi & Henttonen, 1993; Feliú et al ., 1997).…”

Ecological Analysis of the Helminth Community of Microtus lusitanicus (Gerbe, 1879) (Rodentia) in Asturias (NW Spain)

“…The helminthfauna of the M. lusitanicus population from Asturias shows a similar structure to other Arvicolinae, i.e., helminth species with low specificity at is host level (eurixens and oligoxens) are dominant [ 18 , 43 ]. Moreover, the species richness at infracommunity level is poor.…”

“…The helminth fauna of M. lusitanicus in the Iberian Peninsula was previously analysed [ 18 , 19 ]. These studies, carried out on voles from “damaged vegetable gardens” in several localities of the Iberian Peninsula, especially in the central-western part, reported the detection of a total of 14 helminth species: 1 trematode, 7 cestodes, and 6 nematodes.…”