Carlos Feliu

Epizootiology of sarcoptic mange in a population of cantabrian chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica parava) in Northwestern Spain

In May of 1993, an epizootic of sarcoptic mange (Sarcoptes scabiei) was detected in the chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica parva) population of the Cantabrian Mountains in northwestern Spain. The epizootic initially spread across an area inhabited by some 1600 chamois. Mortality was lower than reported for other populations of ungulates. The maximum number of animals were affected from February to May. Four red deer (Cervus elaphus) and a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), were diagnosed with sarcoptic mange from the same area in 1995. In these chamois mange was not correlated with host age or sex. The health and physiological status of this chamois population were not predisposing factors in the appearance of the mange epizootic. The clinical, epidemiological, serological, pathological and parasitological findings of this epizootic from May 1993 to June 1995 are described in this report.

Geography and host biogeography matter for understanding the phylogeography of a parasite.

The co-evolution between hosts and parasites has long been recognized as a fundamental driver of macro-evolutionary patterns of diversification. The effect of co-differentiation on parasite diversification is, however, often confounded by underlying geographic patterns of host distribution. In order to disentangle the confounding effects of allopatric versus host speciation, the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) gene was sequenced in seventy individuals of the parasitic nematode genus Heligmosomoides sampled in the six Apodemus mice species common in the western Palearctic region. The nuclear internal transcribed spacers (ITS) 1 and 2 were also sequenced in fifteen parasites to confirm the mitochondrial data. All lineages differentiated according to a geographic pattern and independently from the sampled host species. This suggests that host speciation did not involve concurrent parasite speciation. However, the geographic distribution range of some parasite lineages mirrors that of A. sylvaticus lineages in SW Europe, and that of A. flavicollis lineages in the Balkans and in the Middle East. Thus, regional co-differentiation likely occurred between the parasite and the two sister Apodemus hosts in different parts of their distribution range. We suggest that differences in regional abundances of A. sylvaticus and A. flavicollis are responsible for generating this pattern of regional co-differentiation. This study highlights the importance of integrating both geography and biogeographic information from potential hosts to better understand their parasite phylogeography.

Ultrastructure of spermiogenesis and the spermatozoon of Mesocestoides litteratus (Cestoda, Mesocestoididae).

This paper constitutes the first ultrastructural study of spermiogenesis and the spermatozoon of a cestode belonging to the family Mesocestoididae, Mesocestoides litteratus. Spermiogenesis in M. litteratus is characterised by a flagellar rotation and a proximodistal fusion. The zone of differentiation presents striated roots associated with the centrioles and also an intercentriolar body. The most interesting ultrastructural feature found in the mature spermatozoon of M. litteratus is the presence of parallel cortical microtubules. The spermatozoon also exhibits a single crest-like body and granules of glycogen. The pattern of spermiogenesis and the parallel position of cortical microtubules reveal the lack of concordance between M. litteratus and cyclophyllidean species studied to date in spermiogenesis and in the ultrastructural organisation of spermatozoon. This study provides new spermatological data and calls into question the validity of the current systematic position of mesocestoidids.

A comparison of the structure of helminth communities in the woodmouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, on islands of the western Mediterranean and continental Europe

We investigated the pattern of helminth species diversity in woodmouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, on western Mediterranean islands. We first performed a survey of the helminth fauna of A. sylvaticus in Sicily. Despite the small sampling effort, parasite species richness in Sicily is large in comparison with parasite species richness on other Mediterranean islands. We tested the nestedness of helminth parasite species from a number of Mediterranean localities using data compiled from epidemiological surveys of the helminth species of A. sylvaticus. We showed a nested pattern for woodmouse helminth species on western Mediterranean islands which suggests that the distribution of parasites on these islands is not the result of a random process. Properties of helminth parasites such as taxonomic group or life cycle and properties of the host population localities such as area size or the stability of the environment (estimated by mammal species diversity) contribute to the nestedness.

Systematic relationships of hymenolepidid cestodes of rodents and shrews inferred from sequences of 28S ribosomal RNA

Haukisalmi, V., Hardman, L. M., Foronda, P., Feliu, C., Laakkonen, J., Niemimaa, J., Lehtonen, J. T. & Henttonen, H. (2010). Systematic relationships of hymenolepidid cestodes of rodents and shrews inferred from sequences of 28S ribosomal RNA. —Zoologica Scripta, 39, 631–641.

Ultrastructure of spermiogenesis and spermatozoa of Notocotylus neyrai González Castro, 1945 (Digenea, Notocotylidae), intestinal parasite of Microtus agrestis (Rodentia: Arvicolidae) in Spain

Summary To our knowledge, this is the first ultrastructural study on spermiogenesis and the spermatozoon of a trematode belonging to the family Notocotylidae, Notocotylus neyrai. Spermiogenesis begins with the formation of the zone of differentiation which comprises striated rootlets associated with the two centrioles and an intercentriolar body in-between. It is characterised by an asynchronic flagellar rotation and subsequent proximodistal fusion with a median cytoplasmic process. The migration of the nucleus toward the median cytoplasmic process before its fusion with the free flagella is also described. The mature spermatozoon of N. neyrai is filiform and tapered at both ends and presents all the features found in the Digenea gamete: two axonemes, mitochondrion, nucleus and two bundles of parallel cortical microtubules. Nevertheless, several characters allow us to distinguish N. neyrai from other digenetic trematodes.

GENETIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL HETEROGENEITY IN SMALL RODENT WHIPWORMS IN SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: CHARACTERIZATION OF TRICHURIS MURIS AND DESCRIPTION OF TRICHURIS ARVICOLAE N. SP. (NEMATODA: TRICHURIDAE)

Genetic and morphological variability of whipworms Trichuris Roederer, 1761 (Nematoda: Trichuridae), parasites of small rodents in southwestern Europe, was studied. Isozyme patterns of natural populations of nematodes parasitizing rodent species of the Muridae (Apodemus sylvaticus, Apodemus flavicollis, Mus musculus) and Arvicolidae (Clethrionomys glareolus, Microtus agrestis, Microtus arvalis) were analyzed at 6 putative loci. Two diagnostic loci were found in T. muris from Muridae and from Arvicolidae. Thus, the existence of 2 species of Trichuris restricted to different host families was indicated. They included Trichuris muris Schrank, 1788, originally described as being from mice, and Trichuris arvicolae n. sp., parasitizing the above species of Arvicolidae. The morphological variability of both species was compared. Although ranges of all morphological characters of the new species overlapped with those of T. muris, stepwise discriminant analysis yielded a 100% accurate classification of females when using vagina length and egg size. Males of T. muris and T. arvicolae cannot be separated entirely. A set of 6 variables yielded 95.7% discrimination; the most discriminating variables were spicule size and body width.

Helminth fauna of the Iberian lynx, Lynx pardinus

Specimens of 12 helminth species were collected from carcasses of eight Lynx pardinus (Temminck, 1827), a carnivore endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. These species included: Brachylaima sp. (12.5%) (Trematoda); Taenia pisiformis (12.5%), T. polyacantha (25%), T. taeniaeformis (25%) and Mesocestoides litteratus (37.5%) (Cestoda); Eucoleus aerophilus (12.5%), Ancylostoma tubaeforme (12.5%), Toxocara cati (37.5%), Toxascaris leonina (62.5%), Vigisospirura potekhina potekhina (12.5%), Mastophorus muris (12.5%) and Physaloptera praeputialis (12.5%) (Nematoda). The helminth fauna in Iberian lynx is compared with that of L. canadensis and L. rufus in America, and for L. lynx in Eurasia. The potential relationships between the parasitological data and some geographical, historical and dietary factors are discussed.

Finding of Parastrongylus cantonensis (Chen, 1935) in Rattus rattus in Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain)

Parastrongylus cantonensis is a parasite of murid rodents that can infect humans and cause health problems as eosinophilic meningitis. Although it is endemic in south Asia, the Pacific islands, Australia, USA, and a few Caribbean islands, it has been extended to new geographical regions. In the Canary Islands (Spain) a survey of helminths of Rattus rattus, Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus domesticus was carried out. Furthermore, five species of molluscs were examined for nematode larvae to determine whether they are potential intermediate hosts of P. cantonensis. Nematodes were found in the lungs of 15% of 67 R. rattus examined in Tenerife, one of the four studied islands, with a prevalence of 20% in the highest focus of infection. Based on morphological and molecular analysis, with the complete internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2) and a fragment of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) nucleotide sequences, nematodes were identified as P. cantonensis. Larval nematodes found from snails and slugs were identified as third-stage (L(3)) Metastrongyloidea, but the molecular study showed that they did not belong to P. cantonensis. This is the first finding of angiostrongyliasis in rats in the Canary Islands (Spain). New molecular data for this species and Parastrongylus dujardini are reported. The presence of P. cantonensis in Tenerife could be of importance from the public health point of view. Further studies are required in order to look for other potential foci of infections in the Canary Islands.

Helminth parasites of the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra in southwest Europe

The helminth fauna in 109 Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra L.) from France, Portugal and Spain was analysed, together with 56 faecal samples collected in Portugal and 23 fresh stools from otters included in a reintroduction programme. Seven helminth species were found in L. lutra in southwest Europe: Phagicola sp. (Trematoda), Aonchotheca putorii, Eucoleus schvalovoj, Strongyloides lutrae, Anisakis (third stage larvae) and Dirofilaria immitis (Nematoda), and Gigantorhynchus sp. (Acanthocephala). Eucoleus schvalovoj was the dominant species throughout southwest Europe. Strongyloides lutrae was significantly more prevalent in the Iberian Peninsula than in France. Apart from these two dominant nematodes and A. putorii, the other helminth species were incidental parasites of L. lutra in southwest Europe. The helminth fauna of L. lutra in southwest Europe is, in general, poorer than that reported in eastern Europe and in all other aquatic mustelids in southwest Europe. Phagicola specimens are reported for the first time in a non-marine wild carnivore in Europe. The prevalences of E. schvalovoj and S. lutrae obtained by necropsy were higher than those observed by coprological analysis using a formalin-ether concentration method (Ritchie). Nevertheless, the culture of fresh faeces appears to be the best method to study infection of L. lutra by Strongyloides.