Occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites in Spheniscus magellanicus (Foster, 1781) located in Pontal do Sul, PR, Brazil

Abstract

Gastrointestinal parasitism is the main health problem faced by Spheniscus magellanicus, known as Magellanic penguins, in route on the Brazilian coast. The aim of this research was to report the occurrence and intensity of gastrointestinal parasites in S. magellanicus that reached Pontal do Sul, Paraná, South of Brazil. The study was performed at the Marine Study Center of the Federal University of Parana (CEM-UFPR) with 38 specimens, 31 were necropsied and seven were examined alive with coproparasitological exams. From the necropsied animals, 93.5% (29/31) were parasitized with at least one parasite species. Contracaecum pelagicum was the most prevalent 93,5% (29/31) parasite, followed by Cardiocephaloides physalis (64.5%) and Tetrabothrius lutzi (51.6%). Only one animal was free of parasites and the most infected bird had 1.076 parasites with an average of 194 worms. Willis-Mollay method revealed that 57.1% (4/7) had C. pelagicum eggs. In conclusion, the high rate of gastrointestinal parasites in S. magellanicus confirms the clinical exams, when animals had poor health conditions when they were found in the cost of Paraná. This study provides data to enrich the literature regarding the helminth fauna of the Magellanic penguins, assisting sanitary control programs in Rehabilitation Centers for Marine Animals.

An overview of seabirds in the Santos Basin, Brazil: species, threats, and current trends in studies

“…Michels-Souza et al, 2010;Moura et al, 2018), contamination by petroleum (e.g. Barbieri, 2009;Michels-Souza et al, 2010), and impacts to animal health (Niemeyer, 2014;Ebert et al, 2016;Fink et al, 2018;Vanhoni et al, 2018;Martini et al, 2022). However, studies on the spatial distribution of seabirds along the Santos Basin are scarce, be they from at-sea counts or tracking data, and are restricted to few species and to the neritic region (< 20 m depth).…”