The intestinal nematode fauna of bats of the genus Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Serbia
2023
Authors:
Horvat, ŽoltČabrilo, Borislav
Paunović, Milan
Karapandža, Branko
Josipović, Jelena
Budinski, Ivana
Tošić, Božana
Bjelić Čabrilo, Olivera
Document Type:
Conference object (Published version)
,
© 2023 by the Medical University of Plovdiv, University Publishing Center
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract:
Bats are the only true flying mammals, and their capacity for flight has contributed to their worldwide distribution. Consequently, they have important functional roles in terrestrial ecosystems in general. These
mammals are reliable bioindicators of the condition of the environments they inhabit and have a regulatory effect on the abundance of crepuscular and nocturnal insects. Many species of bats feed on insects that are either vectors of pathogens that cause diseases of animals and people, or agricultural pests that inflict grave economic losses. The endoparasitic helminths of bats have attracted relatively little attention from parasitologists; therefore, the aim of this study is to contribute to the knowledge on the intestinal Nematodes of Myotis bats in Serbia. We investigated the helminth fauna of 65 individual bats belonging to five different species of the genus Myotis (M. mystacinus, M. alcathoe, M. brandtii, M. blythii, M. myotis). The hosts were sampled from ten sites on the territory of Serbia. Four nematode species were identified: Molinostrongylus alatus, Capillaria neopulchra, Physaloptera sp. and Rictularia bovieri. Intestinal Nematodes infected 48 host individuals, resulting in a prevalence of 73.8%. Molinostrongylus alatus had the highest prevalence (64.6%) and mean abundance (8.2). None of the registered nematode species have zoonotic potential.
Keywords:
Chiroptera; Myotis; roundworms; prevalence; helminthsFunding / projects:
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200125 (University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Science) (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200125)
- Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia (project number 401-00-200/2016-17, pro- ject title “Monitoring of Bat Populations and Roosts in Serbia”)
In:
- Program and Abstract: International Conference One Health and Zoology; 2023 Sep 27–29; Hissarya, Bulgaria. Plovdiv: Medical University of Plovdiv, University Publishing Center; 2023. p. 127-8.