Parasitological studies on helminths of amphibians in South America have increased in the past few years. Here, we present a list with summarized data published on helminths of South American amphibians from 1925 to 2012, including a list of helminth parasites, host species, and geographic records. We found 194 reports of helminths parasitizing 185 amphibian species from eleven countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Equador, French Guyana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Helminth biodiversity includes 278 parasite species of the groups Acanthocephala, Nematoda, Cestoda, Monogenea and Trematoda. A list of helminth parasite species per host, and references are also presented. This contribution aims to document the biodiversity of helminth parasites in South American amphibians, as well as identify gaps in our knowledge, which in turn may guide subsequent studies.
One hundred and seventy-six determined species and 39 undetermined species of copepods associated with 179 marine and freshwater fish species from Brazil are listed, including information about the site of infection, host habitat, localities and references. Also, a host-parasite list is included herein.
Twenty-three genera comprising thirty-four named and thirteen undetermined species of acanthocephalans are associated with one hundred and nineteen marine, brackish and freshwater fish species from Brazil. These are listed, with information on their hosts, habitat, distribution and records. A key to these parasites at the generic level is provided.
The purpose of this study is to report the first case of parasitism by the giant kidney worm, Dioctophyme renale (Goeze, 1782), in the crab-eating fox, Cerdocyon thous (Linnaeus, 1766), in Brazil. A debilitated adult male fox was taken to the Screening Center for Wild Animals in Rio de Janero (CETAS/RJ) and eventually died of an unknown cause. During necropsy, a brownish-red nematode, 28.9 cm long, was found in the peritoneal cavity. The worm was identified as a male D. renale. This study reports the first case of dioctophymatosis in the crab-eating fox, enlarging the range of wild definitive host species infected by the giant kidney worm in the Neotropical region.