Host-parasite association of Placobdella costata (Glossiphoniidae: Hirudinea) and Mauremys leprosa (Geoemydidae: Testudi
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IMMUNOLOGY AND HOST-PARASITE INTERACTIONS - ORIGINAL PAPER
Host-parasite association of Placobdella costata (Glossiphoniidae: Hirudinea) and Mauremys leprosa (Geoemydidae: Testudinoidea) in aquatic ecosystems of Morocco El-Mustapha Laghzaoui 1 & Abdelaziz Abbad 2 & El Hassan El Mouden 1 Received: 24 March 2020 / Accepted: 8 July 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758) was considered as a specific host of Placobdella costata (Fr. Mûller, 1846). However, since the parasite was recorded from outside the distribution area of its host, some authors suggested a possible relationship with other hosts. Although two accidental associations were found with another turtle, Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger, 1812), the obtained data remain insufficient to better understand this discovered host-parasite ecological system. In this context, the present study was carried out to evaluate the relationship between the Mediterranean pond turtle, M. leprosa, and the freshwater rhynchobdellid leech, P. costata (Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae), in aquatic ecosystems of Morocco. During the period from April to June 2018, we found leeches attached to turtles in five out of 30 populations sampled with a prevalence of infection significantly higher in adult than that in juvenile turtles. Moreover, the males are the most infested with 51% of the total, followed by females (33.3%) and juveniles (15.7%). The obtained results indicated that 51 turtles were infested by 139 leeches with a mean intensity of infestation of 4.17 ± 0.47 leeches/turtle (up to 10 leeches/turtle). It was higher in males than that in females in almost all sites. The posterior limbs are the most preferred attachment site, and the body condition of turtles was not affected by the intensity of infestation but it is rather a function of altitude. Our findings proved that M. leprosa-P. costata association is more than accidental and that M. leprosa is rather the main host of P. costata in aquatic ecosystems of Morocco. Keywords Mauremys leprosa . Placobdella costata . Body condition . Prevalence . Infestation . Ectoparasite
Introduction Mauremys leprosa (family Geoemydidae) is a small- to medium-sized freshwater turtle (shell length up to 210 mm in males and 240 mm in females). It is an endemic species to the Mediterranean basin (Palacios et al. 2015) with a wide distribution in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula to the south of France (Bertolero and Busack 2017). This distribution is certainly due to high tolerance of the species from different habitats (Bertolero and Busack 2017). In North Section Editor: Guillermo Salgado-Maldonado * El Hassan El Mouden [email protected] 1
Laboratory of Water, Biodiversity and Climatic Change, Faculty of Sciences, Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco
2
Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnologies, Agrosciences and Environment, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco
Africa, several studies have been conducted on its ecology and
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