Reptile-Associated Ticks from Dominica and the Bahamas With Notes on Hyperparasitic Erythraeid Mites Author(s): Lance A. Durden, Charles R. Knapp, Lorenza Beati, and Stephanie Dold Source: Journal of Parasitology, 101(1):24-27. Published By: American Society of Parasitologists DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1645/14-602.1 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1645/14-602.1 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. J. Parasitol., 101(1), 2015, pp. 24–27 Ó American Society of Parasitologists 2015 REPTILE-ASSOCIATED TICKS FROM DOMINICA AND THE BAHAMAS WITH NOTES ON HYPERPARASITIC ERYTHRAEID MITES Lance A. Durden, Charles R. Knapp*, Lorenza Beati†, and Stephanie Dold‡ Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia 30458. Correspondence should be sent to: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Ticks were collected or recorded from 522 individual reptiles on Dominica and from 658 reptiles from the Bahamas. Two species of ticks were collected on Dominica: Amblyomma antillorum and Amblyomma rotundatum. Similarly, 2 species were collected in the Bahamas: Amblyomma albopictum and Amblyomma torrei. On Dominica, A. antillorum was recorded from 517 Lesser Antillean iguanas (Iguana delicatissima), 2 boa constrictors (Boa nebulosa), 1 Antilles snake (Alsophis sibonius), and 1 Dominican ground lizard (Ameiva fuscata), whereas A. rotundatum was recorded from 1 Lesser Antillean skink (Mabuya mabouya). In the Bahamas, A. albopictum was recorded from 131 Andros iguanas (Cyclura cychlura cychlura), 271 Exuma Island iguanas (Cyclura cychlura figginsi), and 1 Andros curlytail lizard (Leiocephalus carinatus coryi), whereas A. torrei was recorded from 255 Exuma Island iguanas. In the Bahamas, A. albopictum parasitized iguanas on Andros Island and the central Exuma Islands, and A. torrei parasitized iguanas in the southern Exumas. An exception to this trend was that A. torrei was collected from iguanas on Pasture Cay in the central Exumas, an anomaly that is explained by the fact that iguanas (with attached ticks) on Pasture Cay were introduced by humans in the past from islands further south. External hyperparasitic larval erythraeid mites (Leptus sp.) were recorded from A. torrei in the Bahamas. Reptiles in the Caribbean region are parasitized by a unique we counted ticks from each individual and collected a random sample suite of amblyommine ticks, including Amblyomma albopictum from a random selection of iguanas including both host sexes and all age classes. This study was approved by the Zoological Society of San Diego Neumann, Amblyomma antillorum Kohls, Amblyomma cruciferum Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (project approval #267) Neumann, Amblyomma dissimile Koch, Amblyomma quadricavum and the John G. Shedd Aquarium Research Committee. (Schulze), Amblyomma rotundatum Koch, and Amblyomma torrei Ectoparasites were collected primarily from 1 iguana species in the Vigeuras (Robinson, 1926; Whittick, 1939; Clifford and Kohls, Bahamas, Cyclura cychlura, which is listed as ‘‘vulnerable’’ according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (Knapp et al., 2004), 1962; Cerny,´ 1969a; Kohls, 1969a, 1969b; Keirans, 1985; Keirans although the subspecies Cyclura cychlura cychlura and Cyclura cychlura and Garris, 1986; Keirans and Klompen, 1996; Guglielmone et figginsi are listed as ‘‘endangered’’ and ‘‘critically endangered,’’ respec- al., 2003; Durden and Knapp, 2005). Of these species, A. tively. Ectoparasites from reptile hosts on Andros Island and on the albopictum, A. antillorum, A. cruciferum, and A. torrei are known Exuma Islands, Bahamas, were collected during March, May, and/or to be ectoparasitic specialists of iguanas (Robinson, 1926; June. Specific sampling localities on Andros Island were Alcorine Cay (24808.5320N, 77850.9460W), Mangrove Cay (24809.4290N, 77844.8340W), Keirans, 1985; Guglielmone et al., 2003). However, the geograph- Sandy Cay (24805.1440N, 77841.6350W), and Ratman Cay (23841.6620N, ical distribution of these tick species on the various Caribbean 77836.9400W). Specific localities in the Exuma Islands were Bitter Guana islands and their host associations are incompletely known. Cay (24808.7370N, 76825.0890W), Gaulin Cay (24807.3350N, 76824.3460W), 0 0 Additionally, to our knowledge, no external hyperparasites of any Noddy Cay (23848.047 N, 76808.412 W), North Adderly Cay (23847.5280N, 76807.3870W), Pasture Cay (24819.0830N, 76833.5810W), of these iguana-associated ticks have been reported previously. and White Bay Cay (23847.9190N, 76808.7340W). In this paper, we document the host associations for 2 of the Ectoparasites from reptile hosts on Dominica were collected in April, above-listed tick species, A. albopictum and A. torrei, from the May, June, July, August, and/or September from the west coast of the Bahamas, and for 1 congener, A. antillorum, from Dominica. We island primarily in 2 study locations—Batali Beach (15826.9380N, 0 0 0 also document A. rotundatum from a skink in Dominica and 61826.871 W) and Champagne Bay (15814.782 N, 61822.357 W). Ectopar- asites were collected primarily from 1 species, the Lesser Antillean Iguana report ectoparasitic erythraeid mites from A. torrei in the (Iguana delicatissima), which was common historically in the northern Bahamas. We also briefly discuss the known geographical Lesser Antilles. However, its range has diminished dramatically, and thus distributions of the Caribbean iguana-associated ticks, including the iguana is listed as ‘‘endangered’’ by the International Union for the intriguing apparently segregated distributions of A. albopic- Conservation of Nature (Breuil et al., 2010). tum and A. torrei in the Bahamas. Morphological identification of ticks Adult ticks were identified based on morphological characters MATERIALS AND METHODS following Robinson (1926), Whittick (1939), Clifford and Kohls Tick collections (1962), and Kohls (1969b). Some immature ticks were identified according to characters or illustrations in Whittick (1939), Cerny´ As part of a larger study on reptile ecology, ectoparasites were collected (1966, 1969b), Keirans (1985), and Keirans and Oliver (1993). Identities from reptiles in the Bahamas and on Dominica from 2006 to 2011. Ticks of several immature ticks were confirmed or determined using molecular were removed with fine forceps or counted from live, restrained reptiles. methods (see following section). Voucher tick specimens from this study Collections focused on iguanas, whereas removal from other reptiles was have been deposited in the U.S. National Tick Collection (curated at opportunistic. Ectoparasites were removed and stored in labeled vials Georgia Southern University) under accession numbers RML124486– containing 70% ethanol. Instead of removing all ticks from each iguana, RML124296 and RML124442–RML124448. Received 2 July 2014; revised 22 September 2014; accepted 30 September Molecular identification of immature ticks 2014. Because the nymphal stage of A. albopictum has not been described, and * Daniel P. Haerther Center for Conservation and Research, John G. original descriptions of the immature stages of some other tick species that Shedd Aquarium, 1200 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605. we collected are inadequate, we used molecular techniques to confirm or † U.S. National Tick Collection, Institute of Coastal Plain Science, determine identifications of these stages by matching DNA sequences with Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia 30460-8056. identified adults. This technique has proven successful with a number of ‡ Museum of Biological Diversity, The Ohio State University, 1315 exotic Amblyomma species (Mukherjee et al., 2014). Immature stages of A. Kinnear Road, Columbus, Ohio 43212-1192. albopictum and A. torrei will be formally described or redescribed, as DOI: 10.1645/14-602.1 appropriate, in future publications, which will also include molecular 24 DURDEN ET AL.—REPTILE TICKS AND MITES, DOMINICA, BAHAMAS 25 TABLE I. Ticks collected from reptiles from Dominica and the Bahamas, 2006–2011 (tick sample sizes from iguanas were derived from a subsample of ticks from randomly chosen iguanas). Location Host Tick species* (no.) Mean intensity† 6 SD (range) Dominica: Batali, Champagne Iguana delicatissima Laurenti (Lesser Amblyomma antillorum (158?,91/, 75N, 19.6 6 40.5 (1–267) Bay, Coulibistri, Sunset Bay, Antillean iguana) (ticks recorded 197L) and Vidal farm from 517 of 1,149 individuals) Boa nebulosa Lazell (boa Amblyomma antillorum (2?) constrictor) (n ¼ 2) Alsophis sibonius Cope (Antilles Amblyomma antillorum (6L) snake) (n ¼ 1) Ameiva fuscata Garman (Dominican Amblyomma antillorum (6L)