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Intestinal and liver flukes of birds of prey (Accipitriformes, Falconiformes, Strigiformes) from Slovakia: uniform or diverse compound?

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Abstract

During 2012–2014 up to 286 birds of the orders Falconiformes (5 species), Accipitriformes (11 species), and Strigiformes (7 species) were examined for trematodes and this represents the first detailed study in Slovakia. A total of 12 trematode species belonging to the families Diplostomidae, Cyathocotylidae, Strigeidae, and Opisthorchiidae were identified. Rare infections were found in falcons where only two species (40 %) and three of 85 examined birds (3.5 %) were infected with a low range of two to four worms of generalists Strigea falconis or Plagiorchis elegans. Contrary to that, ten accipitriformes species (90.9 %) and 63 of 156 bird individuals (40.4 %) were infected with nine flukes: Conodiplostomum perlatum, Conodiplostomum spathula, Neodiplostomum attenuatum, Neodiplostomum spathoides, Parastrigea flexilis, Strigea falconis, Strigea vandenbrokae, Paracoenogonimus ovatus, and Metorchis bilis. S. falconis and N. attenuatum were the most frequent, occurring in parallel in eight and four bird species, in numbers up to 575 and 224. The intensity of infection with other fluke species was low ranging from one to 13 worms. Three owl (Strigiformes) representatives (42.9 %) were exclusive hosts for Neodiplostomum canaliculatum and Strigea strigis, and the proportion of positive and dissected individual birds was 10:45 (22.2 %). Both trematodes occurred in two or three owl species. In conclusion, apparent dissimilarity of trematode load of three unrelated lines of falcons, eagles, and owls was revealed. The present study extends our knowledge on the composition of the trematode fauna in Slovakia as all species except S. falconis and P. elegans that represent new host and species records in Slovakia.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to persons, agencies, and institutions that provided material for this study, namely Milan Olekšák, Ervín Hapl, Jozef Chavko, and other persons from the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic.

The publication was created within realization of the project Centre of Excellence for Parasitology (Code ITMS: 26220120022), based on the support of the Operational Programme “Research and Development” funded from the European Fund of Regional Development (rate 0.2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epizootology and Parasitology, Institute of Parasitology, The University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81, Košice, Slovakia

    Petronela Komorová & Zuzana Hurníková

  2. Ornitological Station of Commenius Museum in Přerov, Bezručova 10, 750 02, Přerov, Czech Republic

    Jiljí Sitko

  3. Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia

    Marta Špakulová & Zuzana Hurníková

Authors
  1. Petronela Komorová
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  2. Jiljí Sitko
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  3. Marta Špakulová
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  4. Zuzana Hurníková
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Correspondence to Petronela Komorová.

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The research was conducted in compliance with internationally required guidelines under the special permit of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic No. 6467/2012-.26467/2012-2.2.

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Komorová, P., Sitko, J., Špakulová, M. et al. Intestinal and liver flukes of birds of prey (Accipitriformes, Falconiformes, Strigiformes) from Slovakia: uniform or diverse compound?. Parasitol Res 115, 2837–2844 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5034-1

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