Nematode Parasites from Six Species of Marsupial Gastrotheca (Anura: Hemiphractidae) Frogs from the Peruvian Andean Highlands

All rights reserved. Abstract: The present study examined the helminth fauna of marsupial frogs (Gastrotheca spp.). Forty-one individuals of six species of the genus Gastrotheca (G. excubitor, G. griswoldi, G. marsupiata, G. monticola, G. peruana, and G. stictopleura) from the Peruvian Andean highlands were analyzed for parasites. Eleven species of nematodes were found: Rhabdias cff. elegans, Oswaldocruzia proencai, Aplectana hylambatis, A. membranosa, A. vellardi, Cosmocerca brasiliensis, C. cruzi, C. parva, Cosmocercoides lilloi, Parapharyngodon sp., and Oxyascaris sp. All the recorded nematode species are generalists with a direct life cycle that can colonize hosts through cutaneous infection, often through contact with soil, suggesting that the terrestrial habitat of the hosts is the main factor responsible for the observed infection patterns. All these nematode species represent new parasite records for the host species studied.