PLEURODEMA NEBULOSUM (Mendoza Four-eyed Frog). ENDOPARASITES

CASTILLO, GABRIEL NATALIO; ACOSTA, JUAN CARLOS; GONZÁLEZ RIVAS, CYNTHIA JESICA

HERPETOLOGICAL REVIEW

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

Año: 2023 vol. 54 p. 106 - 107

0018-084X

Pleurodema nebulosum occurs in severalprovinces of Argentina in the dry Chaco and Monte ecoregions(Vaira et al. 2012. Cuad. Herpetol. 26:131–159). We examinedthe body cavity of 38 adult P. nebulosum (45 mm mean SVL) collected over three years (2017–2019) in Presidente SarmientoProvincial Park in San Juan Province, Argentina and depositedin the herpetology collection of the Universidad Nacional deSan Juan as (UNSJ 4076-4096). The body cavity was opened by amid-ventral incision and the interior was searched for helminthsutilizing a dissecting microscope. Ten cestodes were found inthe stomachs of two individuals. The cestodes were placed inhot distilled water to relax them and subsequently fixed in 10%formalin. They were then stained with hydrochloric carmine,dehydrated, and mounted on slides containing Canada balsam.They were examined with a light microscope and identifiedas Cylindrotaenia sp., similar to C. americana (Cyclophillidea:Nematotaenidae) (Jewell 1916. J. Parasitol. 2:181–192). Thespecimens were deposited in the parasitological collection of theDepartment of Biology, National University of San Juan (UNSJPar282). They exhibited the following characteristics: paruterinecapsules not surrounded by membranes and paruterine organssurrounded by growing cells. Infection prevalence was 5.26%;mean intensity was 5 ± 1.41 SD, range: 4–6 and mean abundancewas 0.26. In Argentina, there is only one report of Cylindrotaeniasp. as a parasite; parasitizing Rhinella major in Formosa province,Argentina (Hamann and González 2015. Acta Herpetol. 10:9–101).In this note, the distribution of Cylindrotaenia sp. is expanded andP. nebulosum is a new host record for C. cf. americana.