Metazoan Parasites of the Graybelly Salamander, Eurycea Multiplicata Griseogaster (Caudata: Plethodontidae), from Arkansas

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J. Helminthol. Soc. Wash. 62(1), 1995, pp. 70-73

Research Note Metazoan Parasites of the Graybelly Salamander, Eurycea multiplicata griseogaster (Caudata: Plethodontidae), from Arkansas

CHRIS T. McALLiSTER,1 STANLEY E. TRAUTH,2 AND CHARLES R. BURSEYS 1 Renal-Metabolic Laboratory (151-G), Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4500 South Lancaster Road, Dallas, Texas 75216, 2 Department of Biological Sciences, Arkansas State University, State University, Arkansas 72467, and 3 Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, Shenango Valley Campus, 147 Shenango Avenue, Sharon, Pennsylvania 16146, e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: Fifty graybelly salamanders, Eurycea mul- Fifty larval, neotenic, and adult (x ± SE snout- tiplicata griseogaster Moore and Hughes, 1941, were vent length [SVL] = 45.5 ± 1.1, range 35-55 collected between December 1988 and 1993 from 7 counties of Arkansas and examined for metazoan par- mm) graybelly salamanders were collected alive asites. Seven (14%) were infected with 1 or more par- by dipnet or hand between December 1988 and asites, including 1 (2%) with Brachycoelium salaman- December 1993 from the following counties drae (Frolich, 1789) Dujardin, 1845, 3 (6%) with (sample sizes in parentheses): Conway (11), Desmognathinema nantahalaensis Baker, Goater, and Franklin (2), Jackson (2), Pope (9), Van Buren Esch, 1987, 2 (4%) with Fessisentis vancleavei (Moore and Hughes, 1943) Nickol, 1972, and 2 (4%) with larval (4), Washington (20), and White (2) counties of Hannemania sp. Oudemans, 1911. New host and dis- Arkansas. Salamanders were considered sexually tributional records are reported for some of these par- mature at SVL's of >37 mm (Ireland, 1976). asites of E. multiplicata griseogaster. In addition, the They were kept moist and cool in plastic col- cave salamander, Eurycea lucifuga Rafinesque, 1822, is documented as a new host for D. nantahalaensis. lecting bags on ice and returned to the laboratory KEY WORDS: Eurycea multiplicata griseogaster, within 24 hr. Salamanders were sacrificed by graybelly salamander, Eurycea lucifuga, cave salaman- overdose with an aqueous solution of tricaine der, Amphibia, Caudata, Plethodontidae, Brachycoe- methanesulfonate (TMS-222). Methods for sal- lium salamandrae, Desmognathinema nantahalaensis, amander processing and preparation and stain- Fessisentis vancleavei, Hannemania sp. ing of parasites follow McAllister and Upton (1987). Voucher specimens of salamanders are The graybelly salamander, Eurycea multipli- deposited in the Arkansas State University Mu- cata griseogaster Moore and Hughes, 1941, is a seum of Zoology (ASUMZ 19223-19238,19242- small plethodontid that ranges from southcentral 19253). Specimens of parasites are deposited in Missouri and extreme southwestern Kansas to the U.S. National Parasite Collection, Beltsville, adjacent Arkansas and westward to northeastern Maryland 20705, as follows: Brachycoelium sal- Oklahoma (Conant and Collins, 1991). This salamandrae (USNM 83520), Desmognathinema amander inhabits cave-fed springs and cool nantahalaensis (USNM 83522-83524), Fessi- Ozarkian streams where it hides beneath rocks, sentis vancleavei (USNM 83519), and Hanne- logs, and debris in seepage areas. The biology of mania sp. (USNM 83521). E. multiplicata griseogaster was summarized in Seven (14%) of the E. multiplicata griseogaster a species account by Dundee (1965) and Ireland harbored metazoan parasites, including 1 (2%) (1970, 1976) reported on the natural history and with Brachycoelium salamandrae (Frolich, 1789) ecology of this salamander in Arkansas. How- Dujardin, 1845, 3 (6%) with Desmognathinema ever, little is known about its helminth parasites nantahalaensis Baker, Goater, and Esch, 1987, (Malewitz, 1956; Buckner and Nickol, 1978; Mc- 2 (4%) with Fessisentis vancleavei (Moore and Allister et al., 1991), and some data are only Hughes, 1943) Nickol, 1972, and 2 (4%) with available from unpublished theses (Bouchard, larval Hannemania sp. Oudemans, 1911. Of the 1953; Fogle, 1960; Saltarelli, 1977). This note 7 infected salamanders, only 1 (14%) was mul- reports some new host and locality records for tiply infected. In addition, none of the E. mul- metazoan parasites of E. multiplicata griseogas- tiplicata griseogaster were found to be passing ter from Arkansas. coccidian oocysts in the feces, and the blood was 70

Copyright © 2011, The Helminthological Society of Washington RESEARCH NOTES 71 negative for intraerythrocytic hematozoans or imens from the Morrilton site and a neotene (45 trypanosomes. mm SVL) with 10 specimens from Savoy Cave, The single specimen of the plagiorchid trem- Washington County. In addition, we recently atode, Brachycoelium salamandrae, was found found 5 D. nantahalaensis in another host, a in the small intestine of an adult female E. mul- single larval cave salamander, Eurycea lucifuga tiplicata griseogaster (SVL 47 mm, ASUMZ (SVL = 30 mm, ASUMZ 19192), from a stream 19247) collected from a stream north of Mor- outside of Blowing/Cushman Cave, Indepen- rilton, Conway County. This represents a new dence County, Arkansas (unpubl. obs.). Baker et host record for B. salamandrae. Winter et al. al. (1987) originally described D. nantahalaensis (1986) reported B. storeriae Harwood, 1932, from from the blackbelly salamander, Desmognathus the Caddo Mountain salamander, Plethodon quadramaculatus (type host), and seal salaman- caddoensis and the Fourche Mountain salamander, D. monticola, from North Carolina. Inter- der, P.fourchensis in Arkansas. In addition, Ro- estingly, sympatric species of Desmognathus are sen and Manis (1976) reported B. ambystomae not present in habitats where the infected gray- Couch, 1966, and B. elongatum Cheng, 1958, belly salamanders were collected. Further, it is from the spotted salamander, Ambystoma ma- not known why there appears to be an apparent culatum, and the Ouachita dusky salamander, disjunct pattern in distribution of this parasite, Desmognathus brimleyorum, in Arkansas, re- but it could be explained by lack of survey data spectively. Other Eurycea spp. have been re- for salamanders from other regions of North ported as hosts of B. salamandrae, including the America. Eurycea lucifuga and E. multiplicata northern 2-lined salamander, E. bislineata, from griseogaster are new hosts and Arkansas a new New York (Fischthal, 1955a), Pennsylvania (Fis- locality for D. nantahalaensis. chthal, 1955b), Massachusetts (Rankin, 1945), Fifteen specimens of the acanthocephalan, and North Carolina (Mann, 1932; Rankin, 1937), Fessisentis vancleavei, were found in the small the longtail salamander, E. longicauda, from Il- intestine of 2 adult salamanders (41 mm SVL, 5 linois (Landewe, 1963) and North Carolina specimens, ASUMZ 19244; 47 mm SVL, 10 (Mann, 1932; Rankin, 1937), and the cave sal- specimens, ASUMZ 19245) collected from Van amander, E. lucifuga, from Kentucky (Castle et Buren County. Hughes and Moore (1943) orig- al., 1987) and Illinois (Landewe, 1963). How- inally described F. vancleavei from the Oklaho- ever, because of difficulty in determining specific ma salamander, Eurycea tynerensis, in Cherokee identity due to morphological variation and the County, Oklahoma. Later, F. vancleavei was re- crowding effect, Dyer and Brandon (1973) and ported in E. multiplicata griseogaster from Cher- Dyer and Peck (1975) have reported Brachycoe- okee County, Oklahoma (Malewitz, 1956), and lium sp. from E. lucifuga in Illinois and Alabama Madison and Benton counties, Arkansas (Sal- and Tennessee, respectively. tarelli, 1977; Buckner and Nickol, 1978) and in Brachycoelium spp. are the most common the dark-sided salamander, E. longicauda me- flukes encountered in salamanders (Dyer, 1983). lanopleura (Cope, 1893), from Benton County However, the continual recognition of numerous (Saltarelli, 1977). Fogle (1960), in an unpub- species of Brachycoelium (Parker, 1941; Cheng, lished thesis, reported an unknown "acantho- 1958; Cheng and Chase, 1961; Couch, 1966; cephalan" from E. multiplicata griseogaster in Dunbar and Moore, 1979; Sellers et al., 1981) or northwestern Arkansas. However, since voucher a single species, B. salamandrae (Rankin, 1938; specimens were apparently not deposited, it is Rabalais, 1970), for North American salaman- unknown whether this acanthocephalan was F. ders is not without controversy (see Dyer and vancleavei or another taxon. Brandon, 1973). Until an exhaustive revision of Larval intradermal mites, Hannemania sp., this morphologically variable genus is complete, infested 2 adult salamanders (43 and 46 mm we suggest adopting a conservative approach and SVL) collected from Petit Jean State Park and report only B. salamandrae in North American the Morrilton site, Conway County. Unengorged salamanders. and partially engorged larvae were encapsulated Thirty-five specimens of the seuratoid nema- on the neck, appendages, and toes by host dermal tode, Desmognathinema nantahalaensis, were connective tissue. Specific identity was not pos- found in the small intestine of 3 salamanders, sible since only larvae were found. The graybelly including a larva (35 mm SVL) with 15 speci- salamander is a new host of Hannemania sp. mens and an adult (47 mm SVL) with 10 spec- Hannemania dunni Sambon, 1928, has been

Copyright © 2011, The Helminthological Society of Washington 72 JOURNAL OF THE HELMINTHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 62(1), JAN 1995 reported from Rich Mountain salamanders, P. Dicrocoeliidae. I. The genera Brachycoelium (Du- ouachitae, southern redback salamanders, P. ser- jardin, 1845) and Leptophallus Luhe, 1909, (Bra- chycoellinae). American Midland Naturalist 59: ratus, P. caddoensis, P. fourchensis, and D. hrim- 67-81. leyorum in Arkansas (Dunn and Heinze, 1933; -, and R. S. Chase, Jr. 1961. Brachycoelium Pope and Pope, 1951; Duncan and Highton, stablefordii, a new parasite of salamanders; and a 1979; Winter et al., 1986). Indeed, at least 2 case of abnormal polylobation of the testes of Bra- additional species of Hannemania, namely, H. chycoelium storeriaeHarwood, 1932 (Trematoda: Brachycoeliidae). Transactions of the American eltoni Sambon, 1928, and H. multifemorala Microscopical Society 80:33-38. Loomis, 1956, are known from Arkansas am- Conant, R., and J. T. Collins. 1991. A Field Guide phibians (see Loomis, 1956). to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Cen- In summary, metazoan parasites of E. multi- tral North America. Houghton Mifflin, Boston. 450 pp. plicata griseogaster appear to be typical of hel- Couch, J. A. 1966. Brachycoelium ambystomae sp. minths from other plethodontid salamanders n. (Trematoda: Brachycoeliidae) from Ambystoma (Rankin, 1937; Goater et al., 1987; Aho, 1990) opacum. Journal of Parasitology 52:46—49. and exhibit little or no host specificity. Interest- Dunbar, J. R., and J. D. Moore. 1979. Correlations ingly, Saltarelli (1977) reported an unknown spe- of host specificity with host habitat in helminths parasitizing the plethodontids of Washington cies of Paraquimperia Baylis, 1934, from E. mul- County, Tennessee. Journal of the Tennessee tiplicata griseogaster. However, this identification Academy of Science 54:106-109. is doubtful and most probably represents D. nan- Duncan, R., and R. Highton. 1979. Genetic relation- tahalaensis (reported herein), a related species in ships of the eastern slope Plethodon of the Ouach- ita Mountains. Copeia 1979:95-110. the subfamily Quimperiinae Gendre, 1828. Dundee, H. A. 1965. Eurycea multiplicata. Pages 21.1- Members of the genus Paraquimperia are mainly 21.2 in W. J. Riemer, ed. Catalogue of American parasitic in eels and have not been reported pre- Amphibians and Reptiles. Society for the Study viously from amphibians (see Moravec, 1967). of Amphibians and Reptiles, New York. We thank the Arkansas Game and Fish Com- Dunn, E. R., and A. A. Heinze. 1933. A new salamander from the Ouachita Mountains. Copeia mission for Scientific Collecting Permits Nos. 3:121-122. 1114 and 831 to C.T.M. and S.E.T., respectively. Dyer, W. G. 1983. A comparison of the helminth We also thank Drs. J. M. Walker for a copy of fauna of two Plethodon jordani populations from an unpublished thesis and S. J. Upton for ex- different altitudes in North Carolina. 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