Literaturdatenbank
Literaturdatenbank |
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Ryan, T. J., & Lambert, A. (2005). Prevalence and colonization of placobdella on two species of freshwater turtles (graptemys geographica and sternotherus odoratus). Journal of Herpetology, 39(2), 284–287.
Added by: Admin (21 Nov 2009 11:53:23 UTC) |
| Resource type: Journal Article BibTeX citation key: Ryan2005 View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Emydidae, Graptemys, Graptemys geographica, Habitat = habitat, Kinosternidae, Nordamerika = North America, Parasiten = parasites, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises, Sternotherus, Sternotherus odoratus, Veterinärmedizin = veterinary medicine Creators: Lambert, Ryan Collection: Journal of Herpetology |
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It is generally accepted that bottom-dwelling turtles have a higher ectoparasite load than turtles that bask aerially because of effects of desiccation on ectoparasites, especially with regard to leeches. We compared number of leeches (primarily Placobdella parasitica) on field-caught Common Musk Turtles (Sternotherus odoratus) and Common Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica). The bottom-dwelling species S. odoratus had more than 20 times the number of leeches than the aerial-basking species G. geographica. We then exposed cleaned (leech-free) turtles to leeches in mesocosms (cattle tanks) to measure the rate of colonization. In this experiment, S. odoratus had more than four times the number of leeches as G. geographica after 24 h of exposure, even though G. geographica were unable to bask under these experimental conditions. We suggest that desiccation threat alone does not explain the species-specific differences in leech loads on aquatic turtles.
Added by: Admin |