Population dynamics of Antarctophthirus microchir (Anoplura: Echinophthiriidae) in pups from South American sea lion, Otaria flavescens, in Northern Patagonia

AZNAR, F.J; M.S. LEONARDI; B. BERÓN VERA; D.G. VALES; S. AMEGHINO; J.A. RAGA; E.A. CRESPO

PARASITOLOGY

Cambridge University Press

Año: 2009 vol. 136 p. 293 - 303

0031-1820

We analysed population dynamics of the louse Antarctophthirus microchir in pups of the South American sea lion, Otaria flavescens, at the Punta Leo´n rookery (Argentina) over a period of 2 years. A total of 136 pups were aged and marked at the beginning of the lactation period ashore, then sampled for lice at different times within 30 days. Sampling was restricted to the chest and belly, two sites where lice were especially abundant. This concentration on ventral areas might protect lice from thermal stress in the austral summer. Infestation patterns in pups