External and intestinal parasites of the Austral thrush Turdus falcklandii (Aves, Turdidae) in central Chile

A total of thirty Austral thrushes Turdus falcklandii Quoy & Gaimard, 1824 (Turdidae) carcasses were brought to the Departamento de Ciencia Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción, to be examined for ecto- and endoparasites. Ectoparasites were found on 20% (6/30) of the thrushes and belonged to species Brueelia magellanica Cichino, 1986 (Phthiraptera), Menacanthus eurysternus Burmeister, 1838 (Phthiraptera) and Tyrannidectes falcklandicus Mironov & González-Acuña, 2011 (Acari). Endoparasites were isolated from 26.6% (8/30) of the birds and identified as Lueheia inscripta Westrumb, 1821 (Acanthocephala), Plagiorhynchus cylindraceus Goeze, 1782 (Acanthocephala), Wardium sp. sensu Mayhew, 1925 (Cestoda), Dilepis undula (Cestoda) Schrank, 1788, and Zonorchis sp. (sensu Travassos, 1944) (Trematoda). To our knowledge, all endoparasites collected in this study are new records in T. falcklandii and expand their distributional range to Chile.

Occurrence of cystacanths of Plagiorhynchus cylindraceus (Acanthocephala) in the terrestrial isopods Trachelipus squamuliger and Armadillidium vulgare (Oniscidea) in Bulgaria

In total, 2097 individuals of Trachelipus squamuliger and 20 individuals of Armadillidium vulgare from four habitats (three woodland sites and one pasture) in the region of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, were examined for the presence of cystacanths of Plagiorhynchus cylindraceus, a common acanthocephalan parasite of passerine birds. In T. squamuliger from woodland habitats, cystacanths were found with prevalence 4.0–9.3%, intensity 1–5 (mean 1.22–1.57) and mean abundance 0.057–0.113. No significant differences were observed between infections in males and females of T. squamuliger. None of the T. squamuliger individuals from the pasture examined was infected. Out of 48 infected females of T. squamuliger, only one had developed eggs (in agreement with previous studies revealing the negative effect of the cystacanths on the development of female gonads of woodlice). One individual of A. vulgare was infected with a single cystacanth. The occurrence of P. cylindraceus in T. squamuliger is a new host record.

Effects of Plagiorhynchus cylindraceus (Acanthocephala) on the energy metabolism of adult starlings, sturnus vulgaris

Although the relationship between intestinal parasitism, the ingestion and use of energy, and host survival is expected, little work has been done to outline the effect of such organisms upon their host's nutritional requirements in an ecological context. This study is the first to demonstrate that an intestinal helminth previously reported to be of little or no histopathological consequence, Plagiorhynchus cylindraceus, has a significant detrimental impact upon the flow of food energy through a definitive host, the European starling, Sturnus vulgaris. Within both male and female adult European starlings reductions in standard metabolic rates occurred as the result of initial infection, indicating that the host's basal metabolism/thermal regulatory abilities were altered. Moreover, initially infected male starlings, but not females, had an increased consumption and excretion of energy and maintained lower average daily body weights versus controls when temperature stressed. These results appear to be due to either a parasite-mediated alteration in host activity and/or to the disruption of host-digestive abilities. Additionally, these data indicate that, overall, male and female S. vulgaris respond differently to infection and that intestinal helminths normally thought to be of little or no pathological consequence to the host are factors that should be addressed in future studies regarding animal energetics, ecology, and behaviour.