First record of entodiniomorph ciliates in a carnivore, the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), from Brazil.
The entodiniomorph ciliates (Ciliophora: Entodiniomorphida) are endosymbiotes widely found in the intestines of herbivorous mammals. These commensals commonly occur in the Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla and have also been described in the Proboscidea, Primates, Rodentia, and Diprotodontia. This study reports the first finding of a ciliate in a member of order Carnivora, the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus). Fecal samples from wild and captive maned wolves were screened using ethyl acetate sedimentation. Prevalence in fecal samples collected from free-ranging maned wolves in Brazil was 40% (6 of 15). Fecal samples from two of four captive individuals from the St. Louis Zoo also had the same species of ciliate. The largely frugivorous diet of the maned wolf likely explains the occurrence of these normally herbivore-associated endosymbiotes in a carnivore.
Vynne
Carly
C
Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, Washington 98195-1800, USA. cvynne@u.washington.edu
Kinsella
John M
JM
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000469:parasitology; D000836:Animals, Zoo / Q000469:parasitology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D046028:Canidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016770:Ciliophora Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology