Helmintos do Pinguim de Magalhães (Spheniscus magellanicus (Foster, 1871) (Aves: Spheniciphormes: Sphenicidae), no Brasil

Abstract

The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) is the only species of Sphenisciformes arriving annually to Brazilian shores during their winter migration. The biology of this species is relatively well studied in their reproductive season in Patagonia, but their biology during the migratory period is full of incomplete data. Intestinal helminths are components of biodiversity often ignored by many scientists, but plays an important role in the ecosystem as a whole in regulating their host populations or answering questions about the host specificity, the origin of species and their trophic relationships. The aim of this thesis was to study the helminth parasites of dead arrived Magellanic Penguin’s in Brazilian coasts and from them, to seek relevant information about the biology of this host and the marine ecosystem. Penguin carcasses were collected in winter 2008 and 2010 at some points of the Brazilian coast, and the contents were screened for gastrointestinal helminth search. During the screening, garbage unexpected findings in the stomachs were also collected and analyzed for being an important Penguins’ health information as well as about marine ecosystem. Five digeneas species were record for the first time in this host and redescribed. They are: Mesostephanus odhneri (Travassos, 1924) Lutz, 1935, Posthodiplostomum macrocotyle Dubois, 1937, Stephanoprora uruguayensis Holcman-Spector & Olague, 1989, Ascocotyle (Phagicola) longa Ransom, 1920 and Ascocotyle (Phagicola) sp.. Corynosoma australe was also identified for the first time in this host. The already known species Contracaecum pelagicum, Tetrabothrius lutzi and Cardiocephaloides physalis, were also recorded and histopathological findings of C. pelagicum were studied. The careful use of 75μm sieve certainly influenced positively the registry of so many new species parasitizing this penguin. This work show that it is possible, in a careful and conservative way, working with parasites from animal carcasses. This is a delicate question, but important to be debated, since the parasite biodiversity of many host species threatened with extinction is virtually unknown.