Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infecting anurans in a protected area from Santa Fe Province, Argentina

GHIRARDI, ROMINA; LEVY, MICHAEL; LÓPEZ, JAVIER ALEJANDRO; STECIOW, MÓNICA; PEROTTI, MARÍA GABRIELA

CUADERNOS DE HERPETOLOGíA

ASOCIACIÓN HERPETOLÓGICA ARGENTINA

Lugar: San Miguel de Tucuman; Año: 2014 vol. 28 p. 29 - 31

0326-551X

The emerging infectious diseases have been proposed as responsible of global decline of amphibians? worldwide. The etiologic agents of these diseases are diverse: viruses,bacteria, protists, worms, moulds and fungus. Among these agents, the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis -Bd- (Fungi: Chytridiomycetes: Rhyzophydiales) has been highlighted as suspected driver of global amphibian declines. We swabbed 28 adult anurans belonging to six species (five Dendropsophus nanus, ten Hypsiboas pulchellus, one Leptodactylus latrans, ten Rhinella fernandezae, one R. schneideri, and one Scinax nasicus) from Islas de Santa Fe National Park and two out of the ten H. pulchellus resulted positive for Bd analysis. It is essential to alert environmental authorities on the findings and issue administrators, park rangers and citizens about amphibians? conservation concern in Paraná River wetlands (see Perotti and Ghirardi, 2010)