Beck C A, Forrester D J
Sirenia Project, National Ecology Research Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Gainesville, Florida 32609.
J Parasitol. 1988 Aug;74(4):628-37.
We examined 215 Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) at necropsy to determine the helminth fauna. Six species were identified: Heterocheilus tunicatus (Nematoda: Ascaridoidea); Anoplocephala sp. (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea); and 4 species of trematodes, Cochleotrema cochleotrema (Digenea: Opisthotrematidae), Chiorchis fabaceus (Digenea: Paramphistomatidae), Nudacotyle undicola (Digenea: Nudacotylidae), and Moniligerum blairi (Digenea: Opisthotrematidae). Seventy-three percent of the manatees examined were infected with at least 1 species of helminth. The mean number of species of helminths per infected manatee was 1.9 with a range of 1-4. Fifty-nine manatees were helminth-free; 30 of these were calves. No associations were found between the intensity of helminth infections and host sex, age class, season, and geographic location of recovery, or cause of death. Differences in parasite prevalence between age classes were highly significant for Chiorchis, Cochleotrema, and Heterocheilus, due to a low number of infected calves. A higher prevalence of Cochleotrema was found in manatees recovered from eastern Florida, and Heterocheilus was evident in significantly more manatees from western and souther Florida. Comparisons in the parasite fauna are made among Florida manatees and other sirenian populations, and a brief review of sirenian parasites is included.
我们对215头佛罗里达海牛（Trichechus manatus latirostris）进行了尸检，以确定其体内的蠕虫群落。共鉴定出6个物种：包被异唇线虫（线虫纲：蛔总科）；无钩绦虫属物种（绦虫纲：圆叶目）；以及4种吸虫，即耳蜗吸虫（复殖目：后睾科）、豆科吸虫（复殖目：双口科）、裸盘吸虫（复殖目：裸盘科）和布莱尔单睾吸虫（复殖目：后睾科）。接受检查的海牛中有73%感染了至少1种蠕虫。每头受感染海牛体内蠕虫物种的平均数量为1.9种，范围在1至4种之间。59头海牛未感染蠕虫；其中30头为幼崽。未发现蠕虫感染强度与宿主性别、年龄组、季节以及发现地点或死亡原因之间存在关联。由于受感染幼崽数量较少，不同年龄组之间在吸虫、耳蜗吸虫和异唇线虫的寄生虫感染率上存在高度显著差异。在佛罗里达州东部发现的海牛中，耳蜗吸虫的感染率较高，而在佛罗里达州西部和南部的海牛中，异唇线虫的感染明显更为常见。我们对佛罗里达海牛与其他海牛目种群的寄生虫群落进行了比较，并对海牛目寄生虫进行了简要综述。
