Helminths and ectoparasites of the common snipe (Capella gallinago L.) from Southwest Texas and Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado.

Sixty common snipe, (Capella gallinago), collected from Hudspeth County, Texas and 13 collected from Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado were examined for metazoan parasites. The parasites recovered were Cestoda: Amoebotaenia fuhrmanni, Haploparaxis brachyphallos, Haploparaxis crassirostris, Haploparaxis echinovatum, Haploparaxis sp., Hymenolepis calumnacantha, Hymenolepis sp. I, Hymenolepis sp. II; Trematoda: Cyclocoelum mutabile, Echinostoma revolutum, Tanaisia fedtschenkoi; Nematoda: Capillaria contorta, Cosmocephalus capellae, Tetrameres coloradensis; Acanthocephala: Arhythmorhynchus capellae; Mallophaga: Austromenopon duristosum and Rhynonirmus scolopacis. More species of parasites were recovered from fall migrants; (12), than from spring migrants, (10). The cestode Haploparaxis echinovatum was recorded from North America for the first time. The parasite fauna recorded in this study did show some concentration for dominance by Simpson's index (0.33). This parasite fauna was most similar to that reported by Schmidt from snipe collected in Northern Colorado (67%).