<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Helminths were examined in 292 wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) collected in Tenerife, Fuerteventura, La Palma and El Hierro islands, and La Graciosa islet (Canary Islands, Spain), from 2008 to 2012. Three species of cestodes, Taenia pisiformis (Taeniidae), Andrya cuniculi and Neoctenotaenia ctenoides (Anoplocephalidae), and three species of nematodes Trichostrongylus retortaeformis (Trichostrongylidae), Passalurus ambiguus (Oxyuridae) and Calodium hepaticum (Capillariidae), were identified. Only 2 species (N. ctenoides and P. ambiguus) were regularly present in all the islands, with an average prevalence above 50 %. Possible causes of the present distribution of helminths are commented. Insular and founder effects on parasite species in isolated ecosystems are demonstrated. The finding of the zoonotic species C. hepaticum solely in La Palma, represents a novel identification of this nematode in O. cuniculus in the Canary Islands.</p></abstract>

Helminths were examined in 292 wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) collected in Tenerife, Fuerteventura, La Palma and El Hierro islands, and La Graciosa islet (Canary Islands, Spain), from 2008 to 2012. Three species of cestodes, Taenia pisiformis (Taeniidae), Andrya cuniculi and Neoctenotaenia ctenoides (Anoplocephalidae), and three species of nematodes Trichostrongylus retortaeformis (Trichostrongylidae), Passalurus ambiguus (Oxyuridae) and Calodium hepaticum (Capillariidae), were identified. Only 2 species (N. ctenoides and P. ambiguus) were regularly present in all the islands, with an average prevalence above 50 %. Possible causes of the present distribution of helminths are commented. Insular and founder effects on parasite species in isolated ecosystems are demonstrated. The finding of the zoonotic species C. hepaticum solely in La Palma, represents a novel identification of this nematode in O. cuniculus in the Canary Islands.

Helminth fauna of wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus in the Canary Islands, Spain

University Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the Canary Islands, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 38203

Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, 08028

IRBIO — Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Helminthologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Helminth fauna of wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus in the Canary Islands, Spain"}

Helminths were examined in 292 wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) collected in Tenerife, Fuerteventura, La Palma and El Hierro islands, and La Graciosa islet...

Helminth fauna of wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus in the Canary Islands, Spain

Published Online: Feb 22, 2014

Page range: 155 - 160

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11687-013-0125-3

Keywords
Oryctolagus cuniculus, Canary Islands, helminth, Calodium hepaticum

© 2013 Institute of Parasitology, SAS, Košice, Slovakia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Helminth fauna of wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus in the Canary Islands, Spain

Published Online: Feb 22, 2014

Page range: 155 - 160

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11687-013-0125-3

KeywordsOryctolagus cuniculus, Canary Islands, helminth, Calodium hepaticum

© 2013 Institute of Parasitology, SAS, Košice, Slovakia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Oryctolagus cuniculus, Canary Islands, helminth, Calodium hepaticum