TurkJZool 27(2003)89-93 ©TÜB‹TAK ResearchArticle PlatyhelminthParasitesofSomeAmphibiansinJordan MohammadKhairAL-SORKHY DepartmentofBiology,JordanUniversityofScience&Technology,P.O.Box3030,Irbid,Jordan ZuhairAMR DepartmentofBiology,JordanUniversityofScience&Technology,P.O.Box3030,Irbid,Jordan Received:23.01.2002 Abstract: Atotalof470frogswereexaminedforhelminthinfection:220specimensofthegreentoadBufoviridis,65ofSavigny’s treefrogHylasavignyi and185oftheLevantinefrogRanabedriagae.Sixspeciesofadultplatyhelminths(trematodes,monogeneans andcestodes)werefoundtoinfestthethreefrogspecies:twomonogeneans,Polystomaintegerrimum (23%)andPolystomaviridis (8%);twodigenetictrematodes, Pleurogenoidestacapensis (14.5%)and Prosotocusconfusus (11%);andtwocestodes Nematotaeniadispar (35%)andNematotaeniachantalae (8.5%).Ofthesixhelminthparasitespecies,Polystomaintegerrimum had thehighestprevalenceinB.viridis.InR.bedriagae, Pleurogenoidestacapensis hadthehighestprevalence.Nematotaeniadispar was theonlyparasitefoundtoinfestthetreefrog H.savignyi. KeyWords: Amphibians,Helminth,Monogenea,Digenea,Cestoda,Jordan Ürdün’dekiBaz›AmfibilerinPlatelmintAsalaklar› Özet: Helmintenfeksiyonuaç›s›ndantoplam470kurba¤aincelenmifltir.Kurba¤aörnelerinin220’siGeceKurba¤as› Bufoviridis’se, 65’iA¤açKurba¤as›Hylasavignyi‘yeve185’iiseOvaKurba¤as› Ranabedriagae’yeaitti.Sözkonusuüçkurba¤atürününalt›ergin yass›kurttürütaraf›ndanenfekteedildi¤igörüldü:‹kimonogenea, Polystomaintegerrimum (%23)vePolystomaviridis (%8);iki digenetiktrematod,Pleurogenoidestacapensis (%14.5)veProsotocusconfusus (%11);veikisestod,Nematotaeniadispar (%35) veNematotaeniachantalae (%8.5).Alt›asalakhelminttüründenPolystomaintegerrimum,Bufoviridis’leyayg›nolarakgözlenmifltir. Ranabedriagae’daise Pleurogenoidestacapensis ens›kgörülenasalakt›r. Nematotaeniadispar a¤açkurba¤as›n›enfekteedentek asalakolarakbelirlenmifltir. AnahtarSözcükler: Amfibiler,Helmint,Monogenea,Digenea,Cestoda,Ürdün Introduction ontheparasitichelminthsof Bufoviridis.Herecovered Littleisknownabouttheamphibianparasitesinthe Polystomaviridis,Proteocephalussp.,andNematotaenia MiddleEast.InJordan,Madi(1)isolatedfour dispar aswellasothernematodesandone trematodes( Gorgoderinavitelliloba,Prosotocus acanthocephalan.Furthermore,anewspeciesof confusus,Pleurogenoidestacapensis and Haematolechus Polystoma,Polystomamacrocnemis,wasdescribedfrom variegatus)fromRanabedriagaeandBufoviridis inAzraq thelongleggedwoodfrog ,Ranamacrocnemis from Oasis.Hassan(2)recoveredtwotrematodesfrom Bufo Turkey(6). regularis inEgypt.Fernando(3)isolatedtwoadult Tworeviewpaperssummarizedalltheprevious digenitictrematodesfrom Ranaridibunda inSaudi recordsofhelminthinfectionsamongtheEuropean Arabia: Pleurogenoidesstromi and Pleurogenoides amphibians(7,8),withatotalof48digeneans,one compactus.InTurkeyarecentstudywasperformedon monogenean(Polystomaintegerrimum),39larvalstages thehelminthsofRanamacrocnemis,inwhichtwospecies ofdigenea,andasinglecestode( Nematotaeniadispar). oftrematodes, Pleurogenescaliveger and Gorgoderina Thepresentstudyisthefirstattempttoinvestigate vitelliloba,andonemonogeneanspecies, Polystoma sp., thehelminthsassociatedwiththreespeciesofamphibians werereported(4).Inaddition,Yildirimhan(5)reported inJordan. 89 PlatyhelminthParasitesofSomeAmphibiansinJordan MaterialsandMethods Results FrogsofJordan Twohundredandtwentyspecimensofthegreentoad B.viridis,65ofthetreefrog H.savignyi and185ofthe Amphibianswerecollectedfromseverallocalitiesin LevantinefrogR.bedriagae wereexaminedforhelminths Jordanatdifferenttimeintervals.Threespeciesoffrogs (Table1).Sixspeciesofadultplatyhelminthswerefound belongingtothreefamilies(Bufonidae,Ranidaeand toinfecttheseamphibians:twomonogeneans,two Hylidae)areknowntooccurinJordan(theLevantine digenetictrematodesandtwocestodesspecies.Ofthesix frog,Ranabedriagae ;thegreentoad, Bufoviridis;and helminths,Polystomaintegerrimum showedthehighest thetreefrog,Hylasavignyi). prevalencein B.viridis (16%).In R.bedriagae , Isolationoftheparasites Pleurogenoidestacapensis hadthehighestprevalence Atotalof470frogsweredissected(65Hylasavignyi, (12%),whileinH.savignyi,Nematotaeniadispar wasthe 185 Ranabedriagae ,and220 B.viridis ).Frogsand onlycestoderecovered. toadsweresacrificedusingchloroformandthendissected FiveR.bedriagae specimensshowedthreeintestinal andexaminedfortheirhelminthparasites.Thestomach, parasites( Pl.tacapensis,Pr.confusus, and N.dispar ), intestine,lungsandurinarybladderweredissectedand twowereinfectedwith Pl.tacapensis andPr.confusus, placedseparatelyinaPetridishcontainingamphibian sixwith N.dispar andPl.tacapensis andthreewith N. saline.Contentswerecleanedinsalineandexamined dispar and Pr.confusus .Twentygreentoadswere underadissectingmicroscope. infectedwith P.integerrimum and N.dispar ,whilesix toadsharbouredbothP.viridisand N.dispar. CestodespecimenswerefixedusingBouin’ssolution andthenremovedafter24handputinto70%alcohol. Table2showsthesiteofparasiticinfectioninthesix recoveredparasitespecies.Both P.integerrimumand P. Trematodeswerekeptin70%ethylalcohol,while viridis wererecoveredfromthe urinarybladder,while monogeneansweretreatedwithhotAFAbeforebeing theotherparasiteswerefoundtoinfestthesmall transferredinto70%alcohol.Specimenswerestained intestine. usingacetocarmineandmountedpermanentlyon microscopicslides. Foridentification,Yamaguti(9)andPrudhoeandBray Discussion (10)wereused.Allrecoveredparasiteswereconfirmed Thepresentworkexaminesforthefirsttime byspecialists. helminthparasitesinaneglectedgroupoffrogsand Table1. Prevalenceofhelminthparasitesinthreeamphibianspecies. Host Parasite Bufoviridis Ranabedriagae Hylasavignyi No. No. % No. No. % No. No. % Examined Infected Infected Examined Infected Infected Examined Infected Infected ClassMonogenea Polystomaviridis 220 12 5% 185 0 0% 65 0 0% Polystomaintegerrimum 220 35 16% 185 0 0% 65 0 0% OrderDigenea Prosotocusconfusus 220 0 0% 185 17 9% 65 0 0% Pleurogenoidestacapensis 220 0 0% 185 22 12% 65 0 0% ClassCestoda Nematotaeniachantalae 220 13 6% 185 0 0% 65 0 0% Nematotaeniadispar 220 25 11% 185 20 10% 65 9 14% 90 M.K.AL-SORKHY,Z.AMR Table2. SiteofinfectionforhelminthparasitesrecoveredfromJordanianfrogs. Parasite Host SiteofInfection Polystomaintegerrimum Bufoviridis Urinarybladder Polystomaviridis Bufoviridis Urinarybladder Pleurogenoidestacapensis Ranabedriagae Smallintestine Prosotocusconfusus Ranabedriagae Smallintestine Nematotaeniadispar Bufoviridis,Ranabedriagae and Hylasavignyi Smallintestine Nematotaeniachantalae Bufoviridis Smallintestine toadsthatrepresentanimportantgroupofvertebratesin speciesdeviatesfromotherspeciesofthegenusbyits Jordan.Suchhostsconstituteasignificantgroupof excretoryvesicle,whichisdefinitelyY-shapedwhilethose trophiclevelsofanyecosystem.Thisworkcomesintime ofotherspeciesofPleurogenoides areV-shaped(16).On toopenthedoorforfurtherresearchonamphibian thisbasis,BalozetandCallot(17)placed Pleurogenoides parasitism.Amphibianparasitismhasbeenusedasa tacapensis inaseparategenus. modelforunderstandingveryimportantissuespertaining Despitetheextensivefieldstudiesandcollectinginthe totheevolutionofparasitesandtheirhosts,lifecycles, Azraqpools,thisparasitewasnotrecovered.Perhaps host-parasiterelationships,etc. thedrasticchangesinthewaterlevelandthecontinuous Nematotaeniadispar wasfoundtobethemost waterextractionaffectedthebreedingofthe dominantspeciesofcestodes;itwasfoundtoparasite intermediatehostsnail.Inthisregard,suchchangescan speciesbelongingtoBufonidae,Ranidae,andHylidae. beindicatorsofecologicalchangesincertainhabitats. Nematotaeniadispar coversabroadgeographicalregion Prosotocusconfusus wasisolatedfrom R.bedriagae throughoutthecountriesofNorthAfrica,theMiddle inhabitingthesamelocalityfromwhichP.tacapensis was East,Europe,India,andSouth-EastAsia(11).Host recovered.Similarly,thisparasitewasnotisolatedfrom recordstodateimplythatN.dispar isprimarilyaparasite frogsoriginatingfromAzraq. ofthefamilyBufonidae(10),anditwasalsorecorded TwospeciesoftheclassMonogeneawereisolated fromspeciesofanuranfamilies(HylidaeandRanidae), duringthisstudy: Polystomaintegerrimum and andfromcaudateamphibians(12).IntheMiddleEast,it Polystomaviridis.Polystomaintegerrimum was wasreportedonlyinTurkey,Iraq,IranandYemen consideredbyfarthemostcommonamphibianparasite (5,10),whileFernando(3)failedtorecorditfromSaudi allovertheworld.Itinhabitstheurinarybladderofits Arabia. Nematotaeniaviride isasynonymof N.dispar amphibianhosts. anditwasrecordedfromTunisia(13).However,Jones Polystomaintegerrimum isaparasiteofOldWorld (11)consideredthistaxonaseniorsynonym. frogs.Ithasaparticularreproductivecycle,sinceitis Nematotaeniachantalae showedahigherlevelofhost synchronizedwiththatofitshost’shormones. specificity;itwasfoundonlyinB.viridis withanarrower Furthermore,twodifferenttypesofadultsdevelop: geographicaldistribution.Ithasnotbeenrecorded normalandneotenic(17).Bufoviridis istheonlyhostof beforeintheMiddleEast .Nematotaeniachantalae is thisparasiteinJordan,withaprevalenceof16%.In knownonlyfromthecoastofNorthAfrica.Itshost Europe,however,ithasawiderrangeofhosts.Itwas rangeincludesspeciesofBufonidaeandRanidae.Soler isolatedfrom R.temporaria inFrance,Austria,Poland, (14)recordedaspecimenofN.chantalae fromB.bufo in theformerUSSR,andtheCzechRepublicwitha Morocco.ItwasalsoisolatedfromBufosp.inAlgeriaand prevalencenotexceeding45%.Ontheotherhand, P. Yemen. integerrimum wasfoundtoparasitize R.esculenta from Pleurogenoidestacapensis wasfoundinthesmall theCzechRepublic.ItwasalsorecoveredfromB.viridis inhabitingtheformerUSSRandPoland(18). intestineofR.bedriagae intheAlGhawrareaonly.Madi (1)isolatedthisspeciesfromthesamehostfromAzraq.