Title
Parasites of Caiman yacare Daudin, 1802 (Crocodylia: Alligatoridae) in the Tacana Indigenous Territory (Beni River basin), Bolivia
Author(s)
Mollericona, Jose Luis; Álvarez, Gustavo; Ramos, Vanessa; Maidana, Amilcar; Callancho, Saúl; Wallace, Robert; Miranda, Guido
Published
2021
Publisher
Neotropical Hydrobiology and Aquatic Conservation
Abstract
The yacaré caiman (Caiman yacare) is of great nutritional and economic importance for Indigenous people. The sustainability of the national yacare caiman conservation management program in Bolivia is measured by population censuses. To learn about the parasites in caimans and establish further criteria for the management and use of the species, samples of 113 caimans were collected during annual harvests by the Cachichira community in the Tacana Indigenous Territory in the Abel Iturralde province of the La Paz Department between 2017 and 2019. Laboratory analyses showed nine endoparasite species with varying prevalence (Alofia platycephala 96.5%, Capillariidae 7.1%, Dujardinascaris sp. 0.9%, Eimeria paraguayensis 31%, Eimeria caimani 12.4%, Micropleura vazi 10.6%, Polyacanthorhynchus rhopalorhynchus 42.5%, Sebekia oxycephala 40.7%, an unidentified Trematode species 0.9%) and one ectoparasite species (Amblyomma crassum 0.9%). The Kruskal-Wallis statistic showed a significant difference in parasitic prevalence between all sampled individuals (p <0.001), and between individuals harvested in streams (p <0.001) and lagoons (p <0.001). A correspondence analysis of parasite composition revealed that Dujardinascaris sp. presented a very close association to lagoons, and trematodes were associated with streams. Parasite-host associations and caiman behavior are discussed. This study constitutes the first record of parasites in Caiman yacare for the La Paz Department in Bolivia.
Keywords
Host-parasite relationships; prevalence; sustainable use

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