Gastrointestinal Parasitic Helminthes Found in Feral Reccoons (Procyon lotor) in the Miura Peninsula, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

In this study, we examined for gastrointestinal parasites in a total of 68 feral raccoons (Procyon lotor) caught in the Miura Peninsula, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, during the period from 2006 to 2007. As a result, 8 species of parasitic helminthes were found, including 2 unidentified nematode species, 2 unidentified trematode species (Echinostomatidae gen. spp.), and 4 acanthocephalan species (Southwellina hispida, Porrorchis oti, Sphaerirostris lanceoides, and an unidentified species). All of the identified parasitic helminthes in the feral raccoons were native to Japan. The raccoons examined in the present study had relatively simple gastrointestinal parasite fauna compared to the animals living in their natural habitat, North America.