Key words: Nematoda - Ancylostomatidae pluridentatum - History - Hosts - Distribution

1 Laboratório de Helmintos Parasitos de Vertebrados, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Av. Brasil, 4365, 21040-900 Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro,

Brasil.

2 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), fellowship.

3 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), research fellow.

Neotrop. Helminthol., 2(1), 2008

To date there were no reports of the history of Ancylostoma pluridentatum that was described in Italy, on

the basis of Brazilian specimens in 1905. The only two further autochthonous references of the species

occurred in 1910 and 2008, respectively, with no previous historical data during those 98 years in which

the species was ignored in Brazil; in the present note, the occurrence of A. pluridentatum in the Americas is

briefly accounted, on what concerns geographical distribution and hosts. In South America, A. pluridentatum

is referred in the southeast (Atlantic Forest) and north (Amazon rain forest) regions of Brazil, in Argentina

(Formosa Province) and in Colombia (Choco, Nariño); in Central America is cited in Panama (Achiote,

Colon) and in North America in north, southern and south regions of Florida.

Abstract

Resumen

Hasta el momento no hay registros de la historia de Ancylostoma pluridentatum que fue descripta en Italia con

base en especimenes brasileños en 1905. Solo dos referencias autóctonas son disponibles, una de 1910 y

otra de 2008, sin datos históricos durante los 98 años en que la especie ha sido ignorada en Brasil. En la

presente nota la ocurrencia de A. pluridentatum en las Américas es compendiada con brevedad en lo que

se refiere a su distribución geográfica y huéspedes. En América del Sur, A. pluridentatum es citada en las

regiones Sudeste (Mata Atlántica) y Norte (Floresta Amazónica) de Brasil, en Argentina (provincia de

Formosa) y en Colombia (Choco, Nariño); en América Central es referida en Panamá (Achiote, Colon) y

en América del Norte en Norte, Sudeste y Sur de Florida.

Palabras clave: Nematoda - Ancylostomatidae pluridentatum - Historia - Huéspedes - Distribución

RESEARCH NOTE /NOTA CIENTÍFICA

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND HOSTS OF ANCYLOSTOMA

PLURIDENTATUM (ALESSANDRINI, 1905) (NEMATODA,

ANCYLOSTOMATIDAE) IN THE AMERICAS

DISTRIBUCIÓN GEOGRÁFICA Y HOSPEDEROS DE ANCYLOSTOMA

PLURIDENTATUM (ALESSANDRINI, 1905) (NEMATODA,

ANCYLOSTOMATIDAE) EN LAS AMÉRICAS

Dely Noronha1; Magda Sanches1,2 ; Roberto Magalhães Pinto1,3*

Suggested citation: Noronha, D, Sanchez, M & Pinto, RM. 2008. Geographic distribution and hosts of Ancylostoma pluridentatum

(Alessandrini, 1905) (Nematoda, Ancylostomatidae) in the Americas. Neotropical Helminthology, vol.

2, no. 1, pp. 31-33

Neotrop. Helminthol., 2(1), 2008.

Distribution and hosts of Ancylostoma pluridentatum in the Americas

Noronha D, Sanchez M & Pinto RM.

this host in accordance with data after Forrester et al.

(1985). In despite of the great amount of available

data on A. pluridentatum, Vicente et. al. (1997), in an

extensive survey of nematodes parasites of Brazilian

mammals do not refer to the presence of the species.

Only more recently, A. pluridentatum was cited again

by Brazilian authors (Vieira et al. 2008) parasitizing

specimens of Leopardus wiedii (Schniz, 1821) and

Puma concolor (L., 1771) in a checklist of helminth

parasites in wild carnivore mammals on the basis

of data files no. 8959 a-f [from Duque de Caxias,

RJ, Brazil] 36811 a-d [derived from the sample

9041] 36817 a-c [derived from the sample 8997]

(whole mounts) 8997 [Duque de Caxias, RJ], 9041

[from Belém, PA, Brazil), 28137 [from the state of

Amazonas, Brazil] (wet material), available at the

Helminthological Collection of the Oswaldo Cruz

Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Alessandrini, G. 1905. Su di alcune uncinariae parasite

dell’uomo e di altri vertebrati. Bolletino della Società

di Zoologia Italiana, vol. 14, pp. 23-48.

Faria, G. 1910. Contribuição para a sistemática helmintolojica

brazileira. III. Ancylostomum braziliense n. sp.

Parazito dos gatos e cãis. Memórias do Instituto

Oswaldo Cruz, vol. 2, pp. 286-292.

Forrester, DJ, Conti, JA & Belden, RC. 1985.

Parasites of the Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi).

Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of

Washington, vol. 52, pp. 95-97.

McLaughlin, GS, Obstraum, M, Forrester, DJ,

Roelke, ME & Brady, JR. 1993. Hookworms of

bobcats (Felis rufus) from Florida. Journal of the

Helminthological Society of Washington, vol.

60, pp. 10-13.

Moriena, RA. 1983. Cita para la Argentina de

Ancylostoma pluridentatum (Alessandrini, 1905

(Nematoda, Ancylostomidae) en Felis concolor.

Revista de Medicina Veterinária, vol. 64, pp.

184-188.

O’Brian, SJ, Roelke, ME, Yukki, N, Richards, K

W, Johnson, WE, Franklin, WL, Anderson, AE,

Bass, OL, Belden, RC & Martenson, JS. 1990.

Genetic introgression within the Florida panther (Felis

concolor coryi). National Geographic Research,

vol. 6, pp. 488-494.

Schwartz, B. 1927. Description of Ancylostoma

pluridentatum, a hookworm of carnivore, and a review of

the genus Ancylostoma. Proceedings of the United

States National Museum, vol. 72, pp. 1-9.

Ancylostoma pluridentatum was described in Italy by

Alessandrini (1905) as Uncinaria pluridentata, on the

basis of specimens parasitizing a Brazilian wild cat

[Felis mitis Cuvier, 1820 = Leopardus pardalis (L., 1758)].

In the remarks the author affirms: “Questa piccolo

Uncinaria, che ebbe la cortesia di inviarmi da San

Paulo (Brasile) il dottor Adolpho Lutz, si riscontra

nell’intestino del Felis mitis.” Interestingly, five years

later, the only available reference of A. pluridentatum

in a Brazilian publication was that of Faria (1910),

when Ancylostoma braziliense was described. In the

discussion the buccal capsule of the two species

are compared: “……Alessandrini (1905) described

amongst his “Uncinariae” an Ancylostoma pluridentatum

Alessandrini from a Brazilian wild cat. Comparing

the buccal capsule with a series of 3 teeth on the

lateral margin of the buccal capsule we see that

there is no reason for confusion…”. After this, in a

period of 98 years the species had been overlooked

by Brazilian researchers.

Nevertheless, A. pluridentatum was referred overseas

occurring in our country by Schwartz (1927) in

a review of the genus Ancylostoma Dubine, 1843

(with the best camera-lucida drawings figuration

to date), Yamaguti (1961) in general survey of

nematodes parasites of mammals, Thatcher (1971)

(that accepted the subgenus Americancylostoma Biocca

& Le Roux, 1957 for the species) in a study of

hookworms from the Colombia-Panama area.

In the occasion, Leopardus wieddi (Schinz, 1821) (=

Felis wieddi), F. yagouaroudi (Geoffroy, 1803) and F.

catus L., 1758 were listed as hosts for A. pluridentatum

in Colombia and F. onca L., 1758 in Panama.

Moriena (1981) reported the species in Argentina

(with scanning electron microscopy images and

drawings), parasitizing specimens of the puma,

Felis concolor (L., 1771). McLaughlin et al. (1993),

during necropsies of 85 bobcats (Felis rufus Schreber,

1777) in Florida, USA, referred to the presence of

A. pluridentatum represented at prevalences of 11%

to 29%, depending on the collection areas; the

lower percentage was observed in animals from the

county of Highlands and the higher from those of

Dade. According to O’Brien et al. (1990) it seems

that this nematode species was introduced into the

population of the Florida panther [Puma concolor

coryii (Bangs, 1899) (=Felis concolor coryii)], through

the release of an infected South American puma

between 1965 and 1966 in the southern Florida.

About twenty years later, A. pluridentatum was one of

the most prevalent and abundant parasites found in

REFERENCES

Neotrop. Helminthol., 2(1), 2008

Thatcher, VE. 1971. Some hookworms of the genus

Ancylostoma from Colombia and Panama.

Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of

Washington, vol. 38, pp. 109 -116.

Vicente, JJ, Rodrigues, HO, Gomes, DC & Pinto,

RM. 1997. Nematóides do Brasil. Parte V: Nematóides

de mamíferos. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, vol.

14 ( Supl.1), pp. 1- 425.

Vieira, FM, Luque, JL & Muniz-Pereira, LC. 2008.

Checklist of helminth parasites in wild carnivore mammals

from Brazil. Zootaxa, no. 1721, pp. 1-23.

Yamaguti S. 1961. Systema Helminthum. III. The

nematodes of vertebrates. Interscience Publisher,

New York.

*Correspondence to author:

Roberto Magalhães Pinto

Laboratório de Helmintos Parasitos de Vertebrados,

Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Av. Brasil, 4365, 21040-

900 Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

E-mail: rmpinto@ioc.fiocruz.br

Telefax: 55 (21) 2598-4363

Neotrop. Helminthol., 2(1), 2008