Helminth infracommunities in Litoria genimaculata (Amphibia:Anura) from Birthday Creek, an upland rainforest stream in northern Queensland, Australia.
The helminth fauna of Litoria genimaculata, a rainforest frog from northern Queensland, was quantified from 53 adult male frogs collected at monthly intervals between April 1990 and March 1991. The helminth fauna of this species was depauperate (6 species: Mesocoelium sp., Parapolystoma bulliense, Austraplectana sp., Onchocercidae gen. sp., Cosmocerca sp. and an unidentified nematode larva). The most commonly encountered species was P. bulliense, but the intestinal infracommunity was dominated by the digenean Mesocoelium sp. Fifty-five per cent of frogs were infected with only 1 helminth species and only 1 frog had more than 2 species, resulting in low diversity values. These results support previous studies which indicate that amphibians have depauperate helminth communities.
Barton
D P
DP
Zoology Department, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld, Australia. Diane.Barton@jcu.edu.au
Richards
S J
SJ
D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000469:parasitology*; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006374:Helminthiasis, Animal; D006376:Helminths / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008297:Male; D009348:Nematoda / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009349:Nematode Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011793:Queensland; D014329:Tropical Climate