Parasites of the Southern silvery grebe Podiceps occipitalis (Aves, Podicipedidae) in Chile

Short Communication Braz. J. Vet. Parasitol., Jaboticabal, v. 26, n. 3, p. 378-382, july-sept. 2017 ISSN 0103-846X (Print) / ISSN 1984-2961 (Electronic) Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1984-29612017015 Parasites of the Southern silvery grebe Podiceps occipitalis (Aves, Podicipedidae) in Chile Parasitas do mergulhão-de-orelha-amarela Podiceps occipitalis (Aves, Podicipedidae) no Chile Daniel González-Acuña1; Sebastián Llanos-Soto2; Carlos Landaeta-Aqueveque1; Felipe González1; John Mike Kinsella3; Sergey Mironov4; Armando Cicchino5; Carlos Barrientos6; Gonzalo Torres-Fuentes1; Lucila Moreno2* 1 Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción, Chillán, Chile 2 Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile 3 Helm West Lab, Missoula, MT, USA 4 Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Embankment 1, Saint Petersburg, Russia 5 Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Mar del Plata, Argentina 6 Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Santo Tomás, Concepción, Chile Received January 17, 2017 Accepted March 6, 2017 Abstract A total of 97 southern silvery grebes (Podiceps occipitalis), which died as the result of an oil spill on the coast of central Chile, were examined for ecto- and endoparasites. Two lice species including Aquanirmus rollandii (Philopteridae) and Pseudomenopon dolium (Menoponidae) were found from 6.2% (6/97) of birds. In 91.7% (89/97) of cases, grebes were infected with some kind of helminths. Three species of gastrointestinal helminths were detected: Eucoleus contortus (Nematoda), Profilicollis bullocki (Acanthocephala), and Confluaria sp. (Cestoda). In addition, Pelecitus fulicaeatrae (Nematoda) was removed from the tibiotarsal-tarsometatarsal articulation in 13.4% (13/97) of the specimens examined. To our knowledge, these are the first records of A. rollandii, E. contortus, and Confluaria sp. as parasites of P. occipitalis. In addition, these findings expand the distributional range of A. rollandii, E. contortus, P. fulicaeatrae, and Confluaria sp. to Chile. Keywords: Acanthocephalans, cestode, nematode, ectoparasites, endoparasites, water birds. Resumo Um total de 97 mergulhões-de-orelha-amarela (Podiceps occipitalis), que morreram devido a um derramamento de óleo na costa do Chile central, foram examinados em busca de parasitos internos e externos. Parasitos externos foram encontrados em 6,2% (6/97) das aves, com a identificação de duas espécies de piolhos: Aquanirmus rollandii (Philopteridae) e Pseudomenopon dolium (Menoponidae). Em 91,7% (89/97) dos casos, os mergulhões apresentaram algum tipo de parasito interno. Foram detectadas três espécies de parasitos gastrointestinais: Eucoleus contortus (Nematoda), Profilicollis bullocki (Acanthocephala) e Confluaria sp. (Cestoda). Além disso, Pelecitus fulicaeatrae (Nematoda) foi isolado das articulação tibiotársica e tarsometatarsal em 13,4% (13/97) das aves examinados. Estes resultados correspondem ao primeiro relato de A. rollandii, E. contortus e Confluaria sp. associados com P. occipitalis, e expandem a distribuição destes parasitos e P. fulicaeatrae para o Chile. Palavras-chave: Acantocéfala, cestoda, nematoides, parasitos externo, parasitos interno, aves aquáticas. *Corresponding author: Lucila Moreno Salas. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160C, Concepción, Chile. e-mail: . www.cbpv.org.br/rbpv v. 26, n. 3, july-sept. 2017 Parasites of Podiceps occipitalis in Chile 379 Introduction Results and Discussion The southern silvery grebe Podiceps occipitalis Garnot, 1826 is widely distributed across South American countries, as it can be found in Argentina (including in the Falkland Islands/Malvinas), Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, and Chile, although they rarely occur in Ecuador and Colombia (COUVE & VIDAL, 2003; MAILLARD et al., 2006). In Chile, grebes are represented by two subspecies, P. occipitalis occipitalis, which distributed from Atacama to Tierra del Fuego, and P. occipitalis juninensis, which inhabits lakes at higher altitudes (3500-4500 m) in the Andean plateau (JARAMILLO, 2005). In terms of its conservation status, this species has been categorized as of least concern (LC); however, the overall population appears to be decreasing overall (BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL, 2016). Furthermore, P. occipitalis is vulnerable to oil spill events due to their gregarious behavior during the winter, as they gather in large water bodies, sea bays, and lagoons to form flocks consisting of hundreds of individuals (JARAMILLO, 2005). Knowledge about parasite diversity and prevalence in P. occipitalis is quite limited (HINOJOSA-SÁEZ & GONZÁLEZ-ACUÑA, 2005; ATKINSON et al., 2008). To date, only a louse, Pseudomenopon dolium Rudow, 1896 (Phthiraptera: Menopodidae), and helminths, Pelecitus fulicaeatrae Diesing, 1861 (Nematoda: Filarioidea) and Profilicollis bullocki Perry, 1942 (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae), have been described for P. occipitalis in Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile, respectively (PRICE et al., 2003; RIQUELME et al., 2006; ESCUDERO et al., 2007). The present study provides new data on the diversity and prevalence of ecto- and endoparasites in the southern silvery grebe that inhabits the coast of central Chile. Lice including Aquanirmus rollandii Castro & Cicchino, 2000 (Phthiraptera, Ischnocera) (Figure 1A) (2 females, 1 male, and 2 nymphs) and Pseudomenopon dolium (Figure 1B) (5 females and 2 males) were found on 6.2% (6/97) of grebes (Table 1). Both parasite species were restricted to Podicipedidae. With respect to A. rollandii, it was only previously reported in Rollandia rolland chilensis (Lesson) in Argentina (CASTRO & CICCHINO, 2000). In contrast, P. dolium is a cosmopolitan species that parasitizes Podiceps ruficollis, P. auritus, P. grisegena, P. cristatus, P. nigricollis, Podilymbus podiceps, Aechmophorus occidentalis, and Tachybaptus ruficollis in Europe, Africa, India, Asia and North America (PRICE, 1974; MARTÍN MATEO, 2006; VAS et al., 2012; DIK & HALAJIAN, 2013; GALLOWAY et al., 2014; JAŁOSZYŃSKI et al., 2014). In South America, P. dolium has been described as a parasite of P. podiceps in Argentina, R. rolland chilensis in Chile and Argentina, P. taczanowskii in Peru, and P. occipitalis in Bolivia (PRICE, 1974; CICCHINO, 2011). Only a small number of individuals from both species were collected. This could be explained by the fact that grebes were covered in oil and subsequently washed with detergent to remove it. For this reason, our study may be underestimating the intensity of infection in the examined birds. Nonetheless, this marks the first time that A. rollandii has been identified from P. occipitalis, and where its distributional range has expanded to Chile. For the same reason, feather mites (Acari: Analgoidea and Pterolichoidea), the most abundant and diverse arthropods living on the plumage and bodies of birds, were not detected (...truncated)