Parasitological examinations of 102 specimens of the lesser great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis (Blumenbach) from two nesting regions in the Czech Republic (South Bohemia and South Moravia) were carried out at the Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences (previously the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences) in the years 1987-1992. In them, a total of 19 species of helminth parasites was found, including Trematoda (11 species), Cestoda (2), Nematoda (4) and Acanthocephala (2), which can be divided into three main groups regarding their host specificity: parasites specific for cormorants (Phalacrocorax spp.) (37%), those parasitic mainly in cormorants (16%) and non-specific parasites (47%). Of the 19 species recorded, 100% were found in South Moravia, but only 47% of these 19 species in South Bohemia. The higher number of helminth species in cormorants from South Moravia and a higher proportion of non-specific species may be associated with the presence of the large Nové Mlýny water reservoir, in addition to better ecological and environmental conditions in this warmer region. Scanning electron microscopical examination of three common nematode species parasitising cormorants, Contracaecum rudolphii Hartwich, 1964, Desmidocercella incognita Solonitsin, 1932 and Syncuaria squamata (von Linstow, 1883), revealed some taxonomically important, previously unreported morphological features, such as the cephalic structures, numbers and distribution of male caudal papillae or the shapes of spicules., František Moravec, Tomáš Scholz., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The European stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, is recognised as a flagship species for biodiversity conservation. Although the species is widely distributed across Europe declines have led to it being granted protected or endangered status in a number of countries and regarded as "near threatened" by the IUCN. The integration of genetic approaches into conservation efforts is urgently needed but has been impeded to date by the lack of appropriate genetic markers. To provide such a resource the development of the first microsatellite loci for stag beetle is described. Loci were identified using two methods (i) enriched library cloning (ELC) and (ii) Restriction enzyme Associated DNA sequencing (RAD-Seq). Inefficient microsatellite detection using the ELC method suggests that RAD-Seq, or other Next Generation Sequencing based methods, may ultimately be more cost effective for obtaining informative suites of markers for this and other coleopteran species. 18 loci were characterised by genotyping 42 UK specimens collected as prey leftover/roadkill. All loci produced unambiguous genotypes and were polymorphic. Though preliminary, estimates of genetic variability suggest UK populations may be genetically depauperate. The microsatellite loci represent a suite of genetic markers that can be applied to non-invasive population monitoring and numerous other areas of Lucanus conservation and evolutionary research., Niall J. McKeown, Deborah J. Harvey, Amy J. E. Healey, Ilze Skujina, Karen Cox, Alan C. Gange, Paul W. Shaw., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This is the first study detailing the microhabitat specificity of the monogenean parasite, Paradiplozoon ichthyoxanthon Avenant-Oldewage in Avenant-Oldewage et al., 2014. Samples of the monogenean were collected from the gills of the smallmouth yellowfish Labeobarbus aeneus (Burchell) from the Vaal Dam, South Africa, over four seasons with the use of gill nets. Host condition factor fluctuated between the different seasons, with the highest values recorded in summer. Adults and diporpas of P. ichthyoxanthon were found in all four seasons. Adult parasites predominantly infect the first gill arch, whereas diporpas were found on the second and fourth arches. In utero eggs were also found throughout the sampling seasons and their number negatively correlated with the condition factor of the host. The occurrence of adults and diporpas of P. ichthyoxanthon correlated with the size of the host but not the condition factor. Water quality of the study site also had little correlational relationship with the occurrence of the parasites and fluctuations were related to season. The main factor that may drive the microhabitat specificity of P. ichthyoxanthon is the flow of water over the surfaces of the gills and chances of the parasites becoming dislodged. Size of the attachment organs has also been shown to play a role in this specificity, because smaller attachment structures favour stronger holdfast to areas where flow might be stronger compared to larger attachment structures., Beric M. Gilbert, Annemariè Avenant-Oldewage., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Identifying patterns with sufficient predictive power is a constant challenge for ecologists to address ecological problems related to species conservation, pollution or infectious disease control. During the last years, the amounts of parasitological studies in this sense increased, but they are still scarce in urban environments. The main aim of this study was to investigate if the helminth communities of urban rodents are structured within host assembly (compound community) or they are a result of random events occurring at each individual host scale (infracommunity). A total of 203 rodents belonging to four species, Rattus rattus (Linnaeus), Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout), Mus musculus Linnaeus and the native Oligoryzomys flavescens (Waterhouse) and captured in different landscape units of the City of Buenos Aires (industrial-residential neighbourhoods, shantytowns and parklands) were analysed. The results showed that infracommunities could be grouped according to composition and relative abundances and that they respond to the structure of the host community. Thus, the component communities defined in this study could be identified as subsets of the compound community (rodent assemblage) and infracommunities (each host) as random samples within each one. Quantitative differences among component communities were denoted by comparing the infection levels of helminths described as central species. Therefore, infracommunities of R. norvegicus and O. flavescens were the most predictable because of the high abundance of the nematodes Heterakis spumosa Schneider, 1866 and Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Travassos, 1914), and Stilestrongylus flavescens (Sutton et Durette-Desset, 1991), respectively. Several mechanisms contribute to complexity of the structure of parasite communities, where specific parasites, definitive and intermediate hosts, and environmental and anthropogenic factors all play a role in the dynamics of the compound community., Diego Hancke, Olga Virginia Suárez., and Obsahuje bibliografii