title: Finding of pentastomes of genus Reighardia (Pentastomida) in the Belcher's gull (Larus belcheri).
abstract: This report describes the finding of Reighardia sp. (Pentastomida) infecting the air sac of two Belcher's gulls (Larus belcheri) found dead on the beaches of Pucusana, a district in southern Lima, Peru. Three pentastomes were collected from two Belcher's gulls. Then, they were morphologically and molecular analyzed. Molecular characterization of the parasite was achieved by amplifying a fragment of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rRNA). Based on both morphological and molecular data the pentastomes were identified as pentastomes of the genus Reighardia. This is the first report showing that the Belcher's gull is a new natural definitive host for this pentastome.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Science, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Asucena I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Naupay
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Nelly G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Cribillero
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Maria T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Lopez-Urbina
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Armando E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. Electronic address: lucho92@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Gomez-Puerta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D046091:Charadriiformes / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000469:parasitology*; D057078:Pentastomida / Q000145:classification*; D010568:Peru
keywords: Belcher's gulls; Larus belcheri; Pentastome; Pentastomida; Reighardia