New records and descriptions of digeneans from the Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus (Forster) (Aves: Sphenisciformes) on the coast of Brazil

Abstract

Five species of digeneans parasitic in the Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus (Forster) from off the Brazilian coast of the western Atlantic are reported for the first time from this host and described. These are Mesostephanus odhneri (Travassos, 1924) Lutz, 1935, Posthodiplostomum macrocotyle Dubois, 1937, Stephanoprora uruguayensis Holcman-Spector & Olagüe, 1989, Ascocotyle (Phagicola) longa Ransom, 1920 and Ascocotyle (Phagicola) sp. One other digenean, Cardiocephaloides physalis (Lutz, 1926) Sudarikov, 1959, was also recorded. The taxonomy of the species and available data on their life-cycles are commented upon in relation to the possible origins of digenean infections of the Magellanic penguin.

Heterophyid trematodes (Digenea) from penguins: A new species of Ascocotyle Looss, 1899, first description of metacercaria of Ascocotyle (A.) patagoniensis Hernández-Orts, Montero, Crespo, García, Raga and Aznar, 2012, and first molecular data

“…Brandão et al (2013) reported trematodes placed in the subgenus Phagicola from Magellanic penguins stranded on the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. These trematodes were not identified to species level because their circumoral spines were completely or partly lost, and their precise number could not be counted.…”

“…The brackishwater species Ascocotyle ( Phagicola ) longa Ransom, 1920, whose metacercariae are encysted in mullets throughout the world (see Scholz, 1999a), is considered as a causative agent of human fish-borne disease (Chai and Jung, 2017). Brandão et al (2013) found this species in the Magellanic penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus (Forster), stranded in Brazil. These authors also found another species of the subgenus Phagicola Ransom, 1920, which could not be identified to the species level because of poor quality of specimens available.…”

First integrative study of the diversity and specificity of metacercariae of Posthodiplostomum Dubois, 1936 from native and introduced fishes in the Caribbean

“…Morphology-based records of adults of Po. macrocotyle originate from diverse fish-eating birds [Spheniscus magellanicus (Sphenisciformes), B. nigricollis (Accipitriformes), several ardeids (Pelecaniformes) and the type host Rynchops niger (Charadriiformes)] in Cuba, Brazil and Argentina (Dubois, 1937(Dubois, , 1970a(Dubois, , 1970bDubois and Macko, 1972;Travassos et al, 1969;Brandaõ et al, 2013;Drago et al, 2014). The CO1 obtained from metacercariae from the introduced jaguar guapote Pa. managuensis in Puerto Rico matches with adults from the accipitrid B. nigricollis in the Pantanal, Brazil, which have recently been sequenced by Achatz et al (2021).…”

Checklist of Platyhelminthes, Acanthocephala, Nematoda and Arthropoda parasitizing penguins of the world

“…Recently Brandão et al (2013) added 60% of the Magellanic penguin's parasite fauna known so far, and this is a well studied species of penguin. Thus indicating the necessity of the maintenance of information on the biodiversity of parasites of penguins, mainly at remote places like Antarctica.…”