GASTROINTESTINAL PARASITES OF ANURANS FROM SELECTED COCOA PLANTATIONS IN IDANRE, ONDO STATE.

Abstract

The study investigated the endoparasites of amphibians from six localities of cocoa plantation in Idanre, Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State. The localities include Dele Farm, Ademilua farm, Ogunjemilugba farm, Adesogbon farm, Oguntimeyin farm and Fagbemiro farm. The Anurans (toads and frogs) were hand-captured, mainly at night, and then transported in sealed but ventilated containers to the Laboratory. The animals were subjected to Asphyxia, and thereafter dissected. The snout-vent length (SVL) for each animal was recorded. The animals were separated according to species type and sexes. The oesophagus, stomach, gut, lungs, liver, urinary bladder, and kidneys were dissected to reveal inherent parasites. The parasites were subsequently transferred into saline solutions, and observed under the microscope. The bladders were observed directly under a dissecting microscope. The helminths found in both male and female amphibians were counted, and fixed in 70% ethyl alcohol and identified using the taxonomic keys of Yamaguti (1961). The prevalence and mean intensity of the parasites found in each sex of the species were recorded. Furthermore, the relationship between anuran species, sex and parasitic load observed were also recorded. The result obtained showed that the amphibian hosts examined include: Bufo maculatus, Bufo pentoni, Bufo xeros, Xenopus muelleri, Bufo sp., Hylarana galamensis, Ptychadena oxyrhynchus, Hoplobatrachus occipitalis, Ptychadena mascareniensis and Hemisus memoratus. The parasites observed in the amphibian hosts investigated were: Strigeoide spp, Bursotrema tetracotyloides, Glypthelmins repandum, Opisthogonimus spp, Strigeoide cyst, Proteocephalids cestode,. Ampliceacum africanum, Camallanus dimitrovi, Chenospirura asturi, Cosmocerca cummutata, Cosmocerca ornata, Gendria liberrei, Oswaldocruzia spp, Paracosmocerca mucronata, Procamallus brevis, Polystoma spp and Acanthocephala juvenile. From the examined frogs, 70.4% were male, while 29.6% were female. Also 57.9% of the male examined were infected, while 37.5% of the female were infected. For the toad, 57.1% of the examined populations were male while 42.9% were female. Also 75% of the male proportion examined and 55.5% of the female were infected. For the toad, Bufo xeros was observed to have 100% parasite prevalence in both sexes. Of the examined populations of frog, P. oxyrhynchus were all males and 100% parasite prevalence was recorded. Results revealed that male species had more infection intensities.