Endoparasites of Adelophryne nordestina (Anura, Eleutherodactylidae) from the Northern Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

Abstract

Purpouse: We aimed to investigate the diversity of endoparasites in the anuran Adelophryne nordestina and the influence of morphological characteristics and seasonality on the prevalence and composition of parasites.

Methods: This study was carried out in the Professor João Vasconcelos Sobrinho Municipal Natural Park (PNPJV), State of Pernambuco, Brazil, where 85 individuals of A. nordestina were collected from December 2021 to September 2022.

Results: Among 85 specimens of A. nordestina, 20 were infected with at least one species of endoparasite (overall prevalence: 23.3%). We recorded a total of 53 helminths distributed among three taxa. The lung was the organ with the highest number of parasites (47 individuals, 89%). No correlation was found between the parasites and the body size (SVL) of the hosts (r2 = 0.012; p = 0.561). Regarding the prevalence of infected individuals, parasitism was related to the sex of the hosts (F = 2.656; p = 0.002), with females being more parasitized than males (r2 = 0.013; p = 0.023). As for seasonality, we observed a positive relationship with the rainy season (p = 0.008). We also found that parasite richness was directly influenced by local rainfall in each month of sampling (r2 = 0.861; p = 0.0003); however, we did not observe a relationship between parasite abundance and humidity (r2 = 0.017; p = 0.656) and/or temperature (r2 = 0.028; p = 0.354).

Conclusions: The parasite composition of A. nordestina follows the same pattern as its congeners, with a predominance of nematodes with a monoxenic life cycle.