Metazoan parasites of 50 sika deer (Cervus nippon yezoensis) collected in March 1991 in the Ashoro District in east Hokkaido, Japan, were evaluated. Ten species of helminths and three species of ectoparasites were obtained. Estimated abundance of males of two species of abomasal nematodes, Spiculopteragia houdemeri and Rinadia andreevae, were positively correlated with each other, and were overdispersed; S. houdemeri followed Poisson's and R. andreevae followed a negative binomial distribution. No significant relationship was detected between the estimated abundance of males of these two nematode species and nutritional condition of the hosts. Using a general linear model, the fourth-root transformed estimated abundance of male S. houdemeri was influenced by the main effects of host sex and age. This phenomenon was attributable to the ecological and behavioral features of the deer. The low diversity of the abomasal nematode community was regarded as the result of the extinction of some species of nematodes on Hokkaido Island.
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1 April 1997
METAZOAN PARASITES OF SIKA DEER FROM EAST HOKKAIDO, JAPAN AND ECOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF THEIR ABOMASAL NEMATODES
Eri Kitamura,
Yasushi Yokohata,
Masatsugu Suzuki,
Masao Kamiya
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Vol. 33 • No. 2
April 1997
Vol. 33 • No. 2
April 1997
abomasal nematode
Cervus nippon yezoensis
ecological analysis
metazoan parasite fauna
Rinadia andreevae
sika deer
Spiculopteragia houdemeri