Publication details
Morphological and molecular diversity of helminths of Eurasian beaver in the Czech Republic
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| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is well established faunal element in the Czech Republic, even though its populations were historically almost eradicated in this region due to damage control or harvesting of castoreum, meat, and fur. Nowadays, its distribution and population density are well monitored; nonetheless, the beaver's parasites as the potential threat to the environment, and especially to the sympatric fauna, are often neglected in wildlife management. In the present study we investigated helminths of 15 beaver individuals that were found dead or were legally hunted in the Morava, Dyje, and Berounka river basins during years 2018 to 2020. A total of four helminth species were collected, and the highest prevalence, and also intensity of theinfection observed for digenean Stichorchis subtriquetrus. The other three species were nematodes Travassosius rufus, Trichostrongylus capricola, and Capillaria cf. hepatica which are reported for the first time from the beavers in the Czech Republic. The investigation of the genetic diversity in the S. subtriquetrus, using in this species unprecedented mitogenomic markers, revealed a total of 9 unique COI haplotypes among 14 investigated individuals. The minor geographical structure was recognized, as similar haplotypes were observed in the individuals collected from the Berounka. Moreover, the identical haplotypes were observed in the individuals from Morava and Dyje, suggesting gene flow between populations in these two basins. Results of our study suggest, that even when the common population-genetic markers (i.e., microsatellites) might not reveal any structure in the populations of the Eurasian beavers, genetic diversity of their specific parasites may shed more light on their population partition and historical migration routes. |