Checklist of helminth parasites of the cane toad Bufo marinus (Anura: Bufonidae) from Mexico

Abstract

Thirty-four adult cane toads Bufo marinus L. (12 males and 22 females) collected from 2 localities in Mexico (Cerro de Oro and Temascal Dams, Oaxaca) in September 2003 were examined for helminth parasites. In total, 14,749 helminths belonging to 14 taxa were collected. Included were 2 adult digeneans (Choledocystus hepaticus, Mesocoelium monas); 1 larval cestode (an unidentified pseudophyllidean); and 11 nematodes, including 3 species of larvae (Contracaecum sp., Physaloptera sp., Physocephalus sexalatus) and 8 species of adults (Aplectana itzocanensis, Cosmocerca sp., Cruzia morleyi, Ochoterenella digiticauda, Oswaldocruzia sp., Raillietnema sp., Rhabdias americanus, and Rhabdiasfuelleborni). Higher species richness was recorded in B. marinus from Cerro de Oro (12 taxa versus 9 in those from Temascal); hosts from both localities shared 7 taxa. There were 25 new locality records, and 2 taxa were registered in Mexico for the first time. To date, 112 helminth species have been recorded parasitizing B. marinus along its native and introduced range of distribution, with 40.5% of them reported from Mexico.