Charruau Pierre, Pérez-Flores Jonathan S, Labarre Didier
Centro del Cambio Global y la Sustentabilidad en el Sureste AC, CP 86080, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico.
Dis Aquat Organ. 2017 Jan 24;122(3):205-211. doi: 10.3354/dao03071.
Paratrichosma spp. are capillarid worms that parasitize the abdominal skin of crocodiles. They are likely not a threat to crocodiles' health, but they affect the skins' commercial value. No successful treatment exists against this parasite, and present knowledge of its life cycle is limited. Herein we report new information on Paratrichosoma recurvum occurrence in wild American crocodiles Crocodylus acutus from Mexican Caribbean islands and its relation to environmental (water salinity, temperature, climatic events) and biological (body condition) factors. The percentage of parasitized crocodiles (30.3%) is among the highest recorded in wild crocodilian populations. Small (<40.8 cm total length [TL]) and large (>270 cm TL) crocodiles are less parasitized, probably due to the characteristics of their skin or of the parasite life cycle. Two individuals appeared to have eliminated worms naturally between their capture and recapture. The thorax-abdomen is the most parasitized area of the body of crocodiles. The risk of infection is not associated with the sex of the crocodile, but there was a difference in the proportion of parasitized crocodiles between sites, which could be related to different environmental conditions. The body condition of a crocodile does not seem to be affected by the parasite. Climatic events and water temperature show no effect on the parasitism of crocodiles, but salinity could have an effect. The infection of crocodiles by P. recurvum could depend more on an individual's behavior than on environmental conditions.
副毛丝虫属的物种是寄生于鳄鱼腹部皮肤的毛细线虫。它们可能不会对鳄鱼的健康构成威胁，但会影响鳄鱼皮的商业价值。目前尚无针对这种寄生虫的成功治疗方法，且对其生命周期的现有了解有限。在此，我们报告了关于墨西哥加勒比群岛野生美洲鳄（Crocodylus acutus）体内弯副毛丝虫（Paratrichosoma recurvum）出现情况的新信息，以及它与环境（水盐度、温度、气候事件）和生物学（身体状况）因素的关系。被寄生鳄鱼的比例（30.3%）在野生鳄鱼种群的记录中处于较高水平。小型（全长[TL]<40.8厘米）和大型（TL>270厘米）鳄鱼的寄生情况较少，这可能是由于它们皮肤的特性或寄生虫生命周期的原因。有两只个体在捕获和重新捕获之间似乎自然排出了体内的虫体。鳄鱼身体的胸腹部位是寄生最严重的区域。感染风险与鳄鱼的性别无关，但不同地点被寄生鳄鱼的比例存在差异，这可能与不同的环境条件有关。鳄鱼的身体状况似乎不受寄生虫影响。气候事件和水温对鳄鱼的寄生情况没有影响，但盐度可能有影响。弯副毛丝虫对鳄鱼的感染可能更多地取决于个体行为而非环境条件。
