Food Habits and Helminth Parasites of Skittering Frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis) in the Lower Dir, Pakistan

Authors

  • Anwar Ullah Khan Department of Zoology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir Upper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • Mohammad Attaullah Department of Zoology, University of Malakand, Pakistan
  • Wali Khan Department of Zoology, University of Malakand, Pakistan
  • Abdul Waris Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-I-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Shah Khalid Department of Zoology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir Upper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • Abdul Baset Department of Zoology, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jzr.v2i4.2268

Abstract

A total of 30 specimens of Skittering frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis),(Anura: Dicroglossidae) were captured from seven selected localities inthe Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan from Aprilto August 2016. They were euthanized with the help of Chloroform(CHcl3) solution. The biometry of each specimen was measured, thendissected to examine for helminth parasites and foodstuff. All helminths were isolated, washed with normal saline at room temperature,and then preserved in 70% GL ethyl alcohol. Later on, the parasiteswere classified and studied under the electric compound microscope. Ina total of 30 specimens, 17(56.66%) were found infected with 62 helminths parasites belongs to four different species. Among four species,one was Cestodes Nematotaenia dispar species and remaining threewere Nematodes i.e. Cosmocerca species, Cosmocercoides (Raillietnema species) and Strongyloides species. Cosmocerca with a percentageof 56.45% was the most dominant. In the total of 30 specimens’ alimentary canal, 10 were found empty, containing nothing while in remaining20 were full of 9 types of food materials which included insects i.e.Ants, Beetles, Wasps, Spiders, Mosquito larvae and cockroaches, andnon-living things like stone pebbles and mollusks shells. Among the serial, flies and snails were in the lowest prevalence and ants were recorded the most important component of the frog diet. Among the insects,ants have occurred in higher prevalence 44.50% and flies 1.15% withthe lowest prevalence. The results emphasize the significance of furtherexpected studies in the Dir Lower to get a good understanding of thehelminth parasites with the ecological relations of their hosts.

Keywords:

Helminths parasites, Diet composition, E. cyanophlyctis, Dir Lower, Pakistan

References

[1] Vitt, L. J., Caldwell, J. P. Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. 4ª Edição, 2014.

[2] Borroto-Páez, R., Bosch, R. A., Fabres, B. A., García, O. A. Introduced amphibians and reptiles in the Cuban archipelago. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 2015, 10(3): 985-1012.

[3] Wake, D. B., Koo, M. S. Amphibians. Current Biology, 2018, 28(21): R1237-R1241.

[4] Sarwar, M. K., Malik, M. F., Hussain, M., Azam, I., Ashiq, U. Distribution and current status of amphibian fauna of Pakistan: A review. Electronic Journal of Biology, 2016, 12(3): 243-246.

[5] Ali, W., Javid, A., Hussain, A., Bukhari, S. M. Diversity and habitat preferences of amphibians and reptiles in Pakistan: a review. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity, 2018, 11(2): 173-187.

[6] Wright, L. The looming tower: Al-Qaeda and the road to 9/11. Alfred a Knopf Incorporated, 2006.

[7] Rataj, A. V., Lindtner-Knific, R., Vlahović, K., Mavri, U., Dovč, A. Parasites in pet reptiles. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, 2011, 53(1): 33.

[8] Bursey, C. R., Goldberg, S. R., Parmelee, J. R. Gastrointestinal helminths of 51 species of anurans from Reserva Cuzco Amazónico, Peru. Comparative Parasitology, 2001, 68(1): 21-35.

[9] Malan, K. Taxonomy and ecology of parasitic chigger mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) on small mammals in South Africa (Doctoral dissertation, Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University), 2015.

[10] Akani, G. C., Luiselli, L., Amuzie, C. C., Wokem, G. N. Helminth community structure and diet of three Afrotropical anuran species: a test of the interactive-versus-isolationist parasite communities hypothesis. Web ecology, 2011, 11(1), 11-19.

[11] Campiao, K. M., de Aquino Ribas, A. C., Morais, D. H., da Silva, R. J., Tavares, L. E. R. How many parasites species a frog might have? Determinants of parasite diversity in South American anurans. PLOS one, 2015, 10(10): e0140577.

[12] Johnson, P. T., McKenzie, V. J. Effects of environmental change on helminth infections in amphibians: exploring the emergence of Ribeiroia and Echinostoma infections in North America. In The biology of echinostomes. Springer, New York, NY,

[13] : 249-280.

[14] Behringer, D. C., Karvonen, A., Bojko, J. Parasite avoidance behaviours in aquatic environments. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2018, 373(1751), 20170202.

[15] . Imkongwapang, R., Jyrwa, D. B., Lal, P., Tandon, V. A checklist of helminth parasite fauna in anuran Amphibia (frogs) of Nagaland, Northeast India. Journal of parasitic diseases, 2014, 38(1): 85-100.

[16] Akbar Hussain, M.A., Rafi, M.A., Khan, H., Waris, A., Zeb, A., Baset, A. Diversity of carpenter bee fauna (Xylocopa Spp.) In DIR lower, khyber pakhtunkhwa, pakistan., Indo Am. J. P. Sci, 2019,

[17] (10).

[18] Khalid, S., Attaullah, M., Waris, A., Baset, A., Masroor, R., Khan, A.U., Khan, I. 2019. Diversity and distribution of lizard fauna in tehsil Samar Bagh, Dir lower, khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies, 2019, 6(6): 20-25.

[19] Boulenger, G. A. The tailless batrachians of Europe (Vol. 74). Ray Society, 1897.

[20] Tsuji, M., Ushimaru, A., Osawa, T., Mitsuhashi, H. Paddy-associated frog declines via urbanization: A test of the dispersal-dependent-decline hypothesis. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2011, 103(3-4): 318-325.

[21] Jabon, K. J., Gamalo, L. E., Responte, M., Abad, R., Gementiza, G. D., Achondo, M. J. M. Density and diet of invasive alien anuran species in a disturbed landscape: A case in the University of the Philippines Mindanao, Davao City, Philippines. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 2019, 20(9).

[22] Mohammad, M. K., Al-Moussawi, A. A., Jasim, S. Y. Helminth parasites of the green toad Bufo viridis Laurenti, 1768 in Baghdad area, central Iraq. Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, B. Zoology, 2010, 2(1): 17-25.

[23] McALPINE, D. F., Burt, M. D. Helminths of Bullfrogs, Rana catesbeiana, Green Frogs, R. clamitans, and Leopard Frogs, R. pipiens, in New Brunswick. Canadian Field Naturalist, 1998, 112(1): 50-68.

[24] KARAKAŞ, M. Helminth Parasites of Bufo viridis, Rana ridibunda and Hyla arborea Collected from the Different Regions of Turkey. Manas Journal of Agriculture Veterinary and Life Sciences, 2015, 5(1).

[25] Ruiz-Torres, N., García-Prieto, L., Lagunas-Calvo, O., Violante-González, J., Osorio-Sarabia, D. Helminth infracommunity of the cane toad Rhinella marina (Anura: Bufonidae) within its native distribution range. Parasitology international, 2017, 66(5): 567-572.

[26] Daly, J. W., Garraffo, H. M., Spande, T. F., Giddings, L. A., Saporito, R. A., Vieites, D. R., Vences, M. Individual and geographic variation of skin alkaloids in three species of Madagascan poison frogs (Mantella). Journal of chemical ecology, 2008, 34(2): 252-279.

[27] Sulieman, Y., Afifi, A., Awad, H. M., Pengsakul, T. Helminth parasites of the subdesert toad, Amietophrynus (Bufo) xeros (Anura: Bufonidae). International Journal of Research–Granthaalayah, 2015, 3(10): 75-83.

[28] Yildirimhan, H. S., Bursey, C. R., Goldberg, S. R. Helminth parasites of the Caucasian salamander, Mertensiella caucasica, from Turkey. Comparative Parasitology, 2005, 72(1): 75-87.

[29] AL-SORAKHY MK, AMR ZS. Platyhelminth parasites of some amphibians in Jordan. Turkish Journal of Zoology, 2003, 27(2):89-93.

[30] Biserkov, V.Y., Yildirimhan, H.S., Buchvarov, G. and U¤urtafl, I.H. Polystoma macrocnemis n. sp. (Monogenea: Polystomatidae) from the Iranian longlegged wood frog Rana macrocnemis (Ranidae) in Turkey. Systematic Parasitology, 2001, 48 (1):

[31] -66.

[32] Al-khamesi mb, Salman is, Abid sa, Ibrahim sm. Study prevalence and effect of internal parasites and histopathological changes on common frogs at baghdad city. The Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Science, 2018, 49(3): 445-51.

[33] Iyaji FO, Medayedupin IT, Echi PC, Falola OO, Omowaye OS. Gastrointestinal helminth parasites of Amietophyrnus regularis, Bufonidae (African common toad) in Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria. Animal Research International, 2015, 12(2): 2231-40.

[34] Jablonski D, Jandzik D, GVOŽDÍK V. New records and zoogeographic classification of amphibians and reptiles from Bosnia and Herzegovina. North-Western journal of zoology, 2012, 8(2).

Downloads

Issue

Vol. 2 , Iss. 4 (October 2020)

Article Type

Articles

License

Copyright and Licensing

The authors shall retain the copyright of their work but allow the Publisher to publish, copy, distribute, and convey the work.

Journal of Zoological Research publishes accepted manuscripts under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). Authors who submit their papers for publication by Journal of Zoological Research agree to have the CC BY-NC 4.0 license applied to their work, and that anyone is allowed to reuse the article or part of it free of charge for non-commercial use. As long as you follow the license terms and original source is properly cited, anyone may copy, redistribute the material in any medium or format, remix, transform, and build upon the material.

License Policy for Reuse of Third-Party Materials

If a manuscript submitted to the journal contains the materials which are held in copyright by a third-party, authors are responsible for obtaining permissions from the copyright holder to reuse or republish any previously published figures, illustrations, charts, tables, photographs, and text excerpts, etc. When submitting a manuscript, official written proof of permission must be provided and clearly stated in the cover letter.
The editorial office of the journal has the right to reject/retract articles that reuse third-party materials without permission.

Journal Policies on Data Sharing

We encourage authors to share articles published in our journal to other data platforms, but only if it is noted that it has been published in this journal.