First record of the chytrid fungus in Lithobates catesbeianus from Argentina: exotic species and conservation. (ISI: 0,579)

GHIRARDI, ROMINA; LÓPEZ, JAVIER ALEJANDRO; SCARABOTTI, PABLO AUGUSTO; STECIOW, MÓNICA MIRTA; PEROTTI, MARÍA GABRIELA

REVISTA MEXICANA DE BIODIVERSIDAD

INST BIOLOGIA

Año: 2011 vol. 82 p. 1337 - 1339

1870-3453

The chytridiomycosis, a disease caused by the Chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (B.d.), is recognized as one of the major factors of amphibian decline. Global trade of amphibians is pointed as one of the causes of B.d. spread, involving hundreds of species world wide. In this work we determine the presence of B.d. through histological examination on five of the nine analyzed specimens of bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) from a farm in Santa Fe city (Argentina), deposited since 1993 in the herpetological collection of the Provincial Museum of Natural Sciences ?Florentino Ameghino?. Our finding represents the oldest register of B.d. for Argentina and the first case of the chytrid fungus infecting the exotic bullfrog for this country. We emphasize the importance of determine and monitoring the distribution and spread of B.d in Argentina, particularly in areas where feral bullfrog populations have being already identified