title: Digenetic trematode community in nesting green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) from Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica.
abstract: The digenetic community of 40 green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) was investigated at Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica. In total, 24,270 trematodes belonging to 29 species and 6 families including Clinostomidae 1, Microscaphidiidae 5, Paramphistomidae 2, Pronocephalidae 15, Rhytidodidae 2, and Spirorchiidae 4 were recorded from chelonians examined. Turtles harbored a mean of 7.63 +/- 3.5 SD species. Only 3 species, i.e., Learedius learedi, Microscaphidium reticulare, and Pyelosomum cochlear, infected more than 50% of the hosts sampled. Learedius learedi was the most prevalent (97.5%) and the second most abundant species with a mean of 25.6 +/- 21.6 SD. Only 1 core species, M. reticulare, was recovered from the gastrointestinal tract; it was the most abundant parasite, with a mean intensity of 477 +/- 1,180 SD, and the second most prevalent (77.5%). Diversity values ranged from 0.10 to 2.10, with a mean of 1.00 +/- 0.43 SD for the total component community and from 0.10 to 1.84, with a mean of 0.79 +/- 0.41 SD, for the gastrointestinal component community. Species richness was the highest recorded from a sea turtle species. All digenetic species were recorded from Costa Rica for the first time. This represents the first report on the helminth community of the green turtle.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Patología, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional, P.O. Box 86, Heredia 3000, Costa Rica. marisant@libero.it
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: Ellis C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Greiner
authors.forename: Juan Alberto
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Ortíz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003364:Costa Rica / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000469:parasitology; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D015995:Prevalence; D014200:Trematoda / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D014426:Turtles / Q000469:parasitology*