Gastrointestinal helminths of King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) at Crozet Archipelago

International audience Communities of helminths are known to be related to feeding behaviors of hosts. While climate change and overWshing can impact food availability for Antarctic piscivorous predators, knowledge about infectious and parasitic diseases among Antarctic species is scarce or fragment...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Biology
Main Authors: Fonteneau, Frédéric, Geiger, Sylvie, Marion, Loic, Le Maho, Yvon, Robin, Jean-Patrice, M. Kinsella, John
Other Authors: Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution Rennes (ECOBIO), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR)-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES), Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Helm West Laboratory
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2011
Subjects:
Parasite
Piscivorous bird
Austral area
Tetrabothrius wrighti
Tetrameres wetzeli
Contracaecum heardi
[SDE]Environmental Sciences
Antarctic
Austral
Antarc*
King Penguins
Polar Biology
Online Access:https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00616476
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-011-0970-9
Description
Summary:International audience Communities of helminths are known to be related to feeding behaviors of hosts. While climate change and overWshing can impact food availability for Antarctic piscivorous predators, knowledge about infectious and parasitic diseases among Antarctic species is scarce or fragmentary. We studied the helminth community of King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) from the Crozet Archipelago, the main breeding area of the species. Based on a sample of 41 individuals found freshly dead from predation or starvation, the gastrointestinal helminth community in King penguins was composed of 1 species of cestode (Tetrabothrius wrighti) and 2 species of nematodes (Tetrameres wetzeli and Contracaecum heardi). Cestodes formed the core of the helminth community (97.5% of worms collected) with a prevalence of infestation of 100% and a mean intensity of 178.6 worms per host. Sources of infestation and pathologies caused by these worms are also discussed.

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