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The Andean hog-nosed skunk Conepatus chinga Molina, 1782 as a new definitive host for Spirometra erinacei Faust, Campbell & Kellog, 1929

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Abstract

This report describes the finding of Spirometra erinacei Faust, Campbell & Kellog, 1929 (Cestoda, Diphyllobothridae) infecting the small intestine of two Andean hog-nosed skunks (Conepatus chinga Molina, 1782), collected from the locality “Abra La Raya”, at Cusco, Peru. Four cestodes were studied and identified as S. erinacei. This is the first report showing that the Andean hog-nosed skunk is one of the natural hosts for this parasite.

Introduction

The habitat of the Andean hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus chinga Molina, 1782) comprises the north-eastern Peru, southern Chile, and certain areas of Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil (Einsenberg and Redford, 1999). The Andean hog-nosed skunks are nocturnal, individual, and prefer the open vegetation. They live up to 4000 m above sea level. They are omnivorous with a diet consisting of fruits, insects, amphibians, snakes, small birds and mammals (Donadio et al., 2004).

There are few reports about the parasites infecting the Andean skunk. Among the helminths, the nematodes Ancylostoma conepati Solanet, 1911, Physaloptera cahuide Vicente, Cristóforo & Ibáñez, 1978 (Sarmiento et al., 1999) and P. maxillaris Molin, 1860 (Stein et al., 1994) are found.

The genus Spirometra Faust, Campbell & Kellog, 1929, is a cestode Pseudophyllidean from the family Diphyllobothridae (Bray et al., 1994). The genus Spirometra has as definitive hosts carnivorous mammals specially feline and canine. This cestode requires two intermediate hosts: the first is a Cyclops and the second is an amphibians, snakes, birds or mammals (Mueller, 1974).

In Peru, the only specie register for the Spirometra genus is S. mansonoides Mueller, 1935, described in Atelocynus microtis Sclater, 1883, Puma concolor Linnaeus, 1771, Phantera onca Linnaeus, 1758, Leopardos pardales Linnaeus, 1758 and probably Lycalopex (Pseudalopex) sp. (Tantaleán and Guerrero, 1982–1988, Tantaleán and Michaud, 2005). The objective for the present study is to report the Andean hog-nosed skunk as a new definitive host for S. erinacei Faust, Campbell & Kellog, 1929, and in addition a new cestode is reported in Peru.

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Materials and methods

In November 2005 and January 2007 four cestodes were collected from the small intestine of two hog-nosed skunk from the locality Abra la Raya, at Melgar, Cusco, Peru (14°28′43.03″S, 71°01′41.34″W) located in the Andes at 4000 m above sea level. The samples were fixed and preserved in ethanol 70%. Then, the samples were stained with iron acetocarmine according to Georgiev et al. (1986). The samples were dehydrated in ethanol through higher concentrations up to absolute ethanol. Then the samples

Results

The cestodes are 154–218 mm long, with a scolex of 1.02 mm long by 0.44 mm diameter. The scolex is flat with two longitudinal bothrias projecting sharply as dorsal and ventral spatulas. The mature proglottids are 2.10–2.74 mm by 2.21–2.84 mm. The gravid proglottids are 2.87–3.72 mm by 3.45–4.17 mm. The genital pore is in the ventral middle third of the proglottid. The vesicular testes are numerous and placed in two ventral-dorsal layers. The uterus is in spiral shape with 3–7 handles (Fig. 1, Fig. 2).

Discussion

Considering the above description of the specimens and according with Mueller (1974) and Wardle and Mc Leod (1952), we conclude that the collected parasites are S. erinacei. This cestode was founded in many countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia (Wardle and Mc Leod, 1952), and South America (Mueller, 1974, Valerorio et al., 2004).At present, there are still differences among researchers about the denomination of species for Spirometra genus. In the past, the species had been identified by

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