Intestinal and liver flukes of birds of prey (Accipitriformes, Falconiformes, Strigiformes) from Slovakia: uniform or diverse compound?

Abstract

During 2012-2014 up to 286 birds of the orders Falconiformes (5 species), Accipitriformes (11 species), and Strigiformes (7 species) were examined for trematodes and this represents the first detailed study in Slovakia. A total of 12 trematode species belonging to the families Diplostomidae, Cyathocotylidae, Strigeidae, and Opisthorchiidae were identified. Rare infections were found in falcons where only two species (40 %) and three of 85 examined birds (3.5 %) were infected with a low range of two to four worms of generalists Strigea falconis or Plagiorchis elegans. Contrary to that, ten accipitriformes species (90.9 %) and 63 of 156 bird individuals (40.4 %) were infected with nine flukes: Conodiplostomum perlatum, Conodiplostomum spathula, Neodiplostomum attenuatum, Neodiplostomum spathoides, Parastrigea flexilis, Strigea falconis, Strigea vandenbrokae, Paracoenogonimus ovatus, and Metorchis bilis. S. falconis and N. attenuatum were the most frequent, occurring in parallel in eight and four bird species, in numbers up to 575 and 224. The intensity of infection with other fluke species was low ranging from one to 13 worms. Three owl (Strigiformes) representatives (42.9 %) were exclusive hosts for Neodiplostomum canaliculatum and Strigea strigis, and the proportion of positive and dissected individual birds was 10:45 (22.2 %). Both trematodes occurred in two or three owl species. In conclusion, apparent dissimilarity of trematode load of three unrelated lines of falcons, eagles, and owls was revealed. The present study extends our knowledge on the composition of the trematode fauna in Slovakia as all species except S. falconis and P. elegans that represent new host and species records in Slovakia.

New data on helminth fauna of birds of prey (Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, Strigiformes) in the Slovak Republic

“…They are similar to fi ndings of Santoro et al (2012b) in Calabria (Italy) and Sanmartín et al (2004) in Galicia (Spain) who observed a relatively narrow range of helminth species within the Strigiformes family, in particular the species specifi c for owls. This is consistent with our fi ndings in owls with only two detected trematode species (Strigea strigis, Neodiplostomum canaliculatum) as was already published by Komorová et al (2016). Santoro et al (2012b) found that the helminth fauna of diurnal birds of prey is much more diverse than nocturnal birds.…”

“…In the Czech Republic, Sitko published decades-long scientifi c studies of fl ukes in diurnal (1998) and nocturnal raptors (2001). Research from the territory of Slovakia was published in the former Czechoslovakia by Ryšavý (1957) and Tenora & Lusk (1960) and comprehensive analyses of fl ukes and thorny-headed worms were published recently by us (Komorová et al, 2015;Komorová et al, 2016). Comparisons of the fl uke species spectrum in bird orders studied within our research showed certain differences between diurnal (Accipitriformes and Falconiformes) and nocturnal birds of prey (Strigiformes).…”

“…On the other hand, the fl uke S. falconis has a wide host range among Accipitriformes and Falconiformes. Our results showed that the incidence of fl ukes was the lowest in the Falconiformes order, where, no species-specifi c parasites were present (Komorová et al, 2016). Only one species of liver fl ukes, M. bilis, detected in our material, was confi rmed also by a DNA analysis .…”

“…For a subsequent period of 50 years, at the times of dynamic climate changes, no comprehensive research of this host group has been carried out. Recently, two papers on fl ukes and thorny-headed worms were published (Komorová et al, 2015;Komorová et al, 2016). The aim of our study was to obtain the complex knowledge about the current status of the parasite fauna in birds of prey in Slovakia.…”

Parasites, Bacteria, and Associated Pathological Changes in the Digestive System of Diurnal and Nocturnal Raptors in Central Italy

“…Most of the pathogens identified in this study are commonly found in European diurnal and nocturnal raptors [8,23,24,30,35,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46].…”