Platyhelminth Parasites of Some Amphibians in Jordan

Authors: MOHAMMAD KHAIR AL-SORAKHY, ZUHAIR SAMI AMR

Abstract: A total of 470 frogs were examined for helminth infection: 220 specimens of the green toad Bufo viridis, 65 of Savigny's tree frog Hyla savignyi and 185 of the Levantine frog Rana bedriagae. Six species of adult platyhelminths (trematodes, monogeneans and cestodes) were found to infest the three frog species: two monogeneans, Polystoma integerrimum (23%) and Polystoma viridis (8%); two digenetic trematodes, Pleurogenoides tacapensis (14.5%) and Prosotocus confusus (11%); and two cestodes Nematotaenia dispar (35%) and Nematotaenia chantalae (8.5%). Of the six helminth parasite species, Polystoma integerrimum had the highest prevalence in B. viridis. In R. bedriagae, Pleurogenoides tacapensis had the highest prevalence. Nematotaenia dispar was the only parasite found to infest the tree frog H. savignyi.

Keywords: Amphibians, Helminth, Monogenea, Digenea, Cestoda, Jordan

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