INVESTIGADORES
AKMENTINS Mauricio Sebastian
artículos
Título:
First report of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Atelognathus reverberii, a threatened species in Argentina
Autor/es:
ARELLANO, ML; AKMENTINS, MS; VELASCO, MA; KASS, CA; KACOLIRIS, FP
Revista:
HERPETOLOGICAL REVIEW
Editorial:
SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES
Referencias:
Año: 2015 vol. 46 p. 354 - 356
ISSN:
0018-084X
Resumen:
Since the first report of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) in Argentina in 2002, the pathogenic fungus has been reported in 14 of 23 provinces of the country, infecting numerous amphibian species in diverse environments. The Laguna Raimunda Frog, Atelognathus reverberii (Cei 1969), is an endemic species of conservation concern associated with permanent and temporary lagoons between 920 and 1200 m elevation in the Provinces of Chubut and Rio Negro. In January 2015, during a field survey of this species in the Somuncurá Plateau, a Natural Protected Area of Río Negro Province, Argentina we found 11 dead A. reverberii individuals. We analyzed shed skin from the hind limbs of all fixed individuals through direct examination without stain, under a compound optical microscope at 400X magnification. All dead individuals had excessive shed skin, which is one of the clinical signs of chytridiomycosis. We detected Bd zoosporangia in 100% (n=11) of the shed skin samples analyzed. The fact that we found dead and very weak individuals during the survey, added to the excessive shed skin seen in all the individuals, is very worrying, since this frog is potentially vulnerable to losses