Parasitism by Amblyomma rotundatum Koch, 1844 (Acarina: Ixodidae) on Rhinella marina Linnaeus, 1758 (Anura Bufonidae) in the Amazon Forest: geographic expansion across Madeira River
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6008/CBPC2318-2881.2021.003.0006Keywords:
Cane Toad, Tick, Amazon, Parasitism, Madeira RiverAbstract
Host-parasite interactions between ticks and wild species are important for examining the ecology and distribution of ticks, as well as the consequences of these interactions for hosts and diseases. Ticks have medical importance because they are vectors of microorganisms and pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, that can be transmitted to humans and other animals, causing serious disease. Like other anuran species, Rhinella marina also harbors a wide variety of parasites. This occurs mainly because of its large body size and because it occupies terrestrial environments, but also because it has direct contact with aquatic environments (larval and reproductive stages), thus presenting several opportunities for parasitic infections. This work has as main objective to describe the occurrences of host-parasite interactions between the species Rhinella marina (Linnaeus, 1758) and Amblyomma rotundatum (Koch, 1844) geographically expanding their occurrence in the Amazon rainforest through the Madeira River. During a herpetofauna survey, the first individual of R. marina was observed at 08:37 PM on September 20, 2020. The location is near a transect within a primary forest. This individual was parasitized by a single tick identified as Amblyomma rotundatum. On a second expedition, a second individual of R. marina was observed at 11:38 PM on January 5, 2021. The location is rural road C-01 in the municipality of Porto Velho-RO, which passes within a primary forest and deforested private properties. This individual was parasitized by nine ticks identified as Amblyomma rotundatum. An important observation to be made is that the occurrences of A. rotundatum parasitizing R. marina are 57 km apart and cross an important geographical barrier, the Madeira River of the Amazon basin. This work geographically expands the occurrence of A. rotundatum parasitism on R. marina and describes the natural histories of this host-parasite interaction of these species.
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