Helminths parasites of Chiasmocleis mehelyi (Anura: Microhylidae) and Dendropsophus nanus (Anura: Hylidae) in an area of Cerrado at municipality of Selvíria, Mato Grosso do Sul state

• Grant number: 14/26923-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2015
• End date: February 29, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Helminthology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: Luciano Alves dos Anjos
• Grantee: Alini Beloto Parra
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Ilha Solteira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The greatest biodiversity is concentrated in tropical regions, however the biota of these tropical areas are still relatively subsampled. Within the group of poorly sampled species are helminth parasites of amphibians, which represent a true "invisible zoo". Parasites are an important part of biodiversity in all ecosystems and contribute to maintenance of local diversity of hosts and ecosystem functions, as well as aspects of the natural history of their hosts. The greatest diversity of amphibians is found in Brazil, however the parasite fauna is known about 20% of frog species. Thus, this project aims to assess the communities of parasites and their parasitic parameters in two populations of amphibians, Chiasmocleis mehely (Microhylidae) and Dendropsophus nanus (Hylidae) Fazenda de Ensino Pesquisa e Extensão - FEPE, municipality of Selvíria, state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Part of frogs have been collected, necropsied and the parasites are kept in the collection of Laboratório de Ecologia do Parasitismo, FEIS / UNESP. More samples will be carried out between January and March 2015 to increase the number of hosts, and evaluates if there is a difference in the composition of helminth parasites between two consecutive years of samples.