First helminthological data on Iberian vipers: Helminth communities and host-parasite relationships

Abstract

European vipers are ambush predators with sporadic feeding events, thereby maintaining the digestive tract empty for long periods. According to previous studies relating lizards' dietary habits and their helminth faunas, we predict poor gastrointestinal helminth communities in vipers. To test this hypothesis, we have examined the digestive tract of 86 specimens of Vipera aspis (L., 1758) and V. latastei Boscá, 1878, from several localities of the Iberian Peninsula. We found adults of only two nematode species Kalicephalus viperae (Rud., 1819) and Ophidascaris sp. and cysts adhering to the external wall on the stomach in case of two other nematode species Ascarops strongylina (Rud., 1819) and Spirurida gen. sp. All these nematodes are common parasite species in snakes, although Ophidascaris sp. has never before been recorded in Vipera sp. The low prevalence and small number of parasite species in Iberian vipers matched their low feeding rates. However, our results contrast with studies in Poland and Belarus of V. berus species, in which nematodes, as well as trematodes, are common and abundant. Rainfall rates are lower in the Iberian Peninsula than in eastern Central Europe, where amphibians are more available and consumed by V. berus. Amphibians, intermediate hosts for these helminths, have been recorded only sporadically as prey for V. aspis and V. latastei, thus supporting the absence of trematodes in both Iberian viper species. Among populations of Iberian vipers, the prevalence of parasites correlates with the feeding rate (i.e. percentage of vipers with prey), suggesting a linkage between the two parameters. In conclusion, our results suggest that several factors, including climatic characteristics of localities, feeding rates of predators, and type of prey consumed, influence the number and type of parasites in Iberian vipers. © 2006 W. Stefański Institute of Parasitology, PAS.