Ecological analyses of the intestinal helminth communities of the wolf, Canis lupus, in Spain

Abstract

This work describes the ecological characteristics of the intestinal helminth communities of 50 wolves (Canis lupus L.) from Spain. The species found were classified into three groups according to prevalence, intensity and intestinal distribution. Taenia hydatigena Pallas, 1766 and Uncinaria stenocephala (Railliet, 1884) are the core species of the community. Taenia multiceps (Leske, 1780) is a secondary species. The rest of the species, Alaria alata (Goeze, 1782), Taenia serialis (Gervais, 1847), Taenia pisiformis (Bloch, 1780), Dipylidium caninum (Linnaeus, 1758), Mesocestoides sp. aff. litteratus, Toxocara canis (Werner, 1782), Toxascaris leonina (von Linstow, 1902), Ancylostoma caninum (Ercolani, 1859) and Trichuris vulpis (Froelich, 1789), behave as satellite species. The linear intestinal distribution of all helminth species was analysed. The location of most species can be considered predictable, especially for core and secondary species. The analysis of interspecific relationships between infracommunities shows that negative associations are more numerous than positive associations. The role of A. caninum in the community is compared with that of U. stenocephala.