The first record of feather mite Alloptes (Conuralloptes) calidridis Dubinin, 1951 (Acari: Alloptidae) from the Dunlin, Calidris alpina (L., 1758) (Passeriformes: Scolopacidae) in southern of Portugal

ABSTRACT

A single individual of feather mite Alloptes (Conuralloptes) calidridis Dubinin, 1951 is reported from the covert feathers of a juvenile Dunlin Calidris alpina Linnaeus, 1758. A redescription of a male of this mite is given. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of Alloptes (C.) calidridis in a wild bird from Portugal, expanding the geographical distribution range of this ectoparasite to Western Europe.

KEYWORDS:

• Alloptes (Conuralloptes) calidridis
• feather mite
• Calidris alpina
• covert feathers
• Portugal

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Lídia Gomes of the Interdisciplinary Centre of Research in Animal Health (CIISA) of the Faculty Veterinary Medicine of University of Lisbon for technical assistance. Thanks are due for the financial support to CESAM (UID/AMB/50017 - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007638), to CIISA (UID/CVT/00276/2013), to FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC), and the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

All applicable institutional, national and international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Animal manipulation was performed by suitably qualified professionals, according to the directive 86/609/EEC. All experimental assays, with or without the use of animals were performed in accordance with Government Veterinary Service (Direcção Geral de Veterinária/DGV).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund [CESAM (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007638)]; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [CESAM (UID/AMB/50017),CIISA (UID/CVT/00276/2013)].