Gastrointestinal helminth parasites of the red kangaroo, Osphranter rufus (Desmarest) (Marsupialia: Macropodidae) and their regional distribution

ABSTRACT

Gastrointestinal parasites of 106 red kangaroos, Osphranter rufus (Desmarest), are reported from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Previous studies have been restricted to New South Wales and Queensland. The current study increases the geographical range of studies of the parasites of O. rufus and presents evidence for regional differences in the parasite fauna. Two species of cestodes and 27 species of nematodes were encountered, with four species Cloacina hestia Beveridge, 1998, C. ixion Beveridge, 1998, Papillostrongylus barbatus Chilton, Huby-Chilton, Gasser and Beveridge, 2002 and Popovastrongylus pearsoni (Johnston & Mawson, 1940) being reported for the first time. Several species, Hypodontus macropi Mönnig, 1929, Progamotaenia festiva (Rudolphi, 1819), Labiosimplex longispicularis (Wood, 1929) , Pa. barbatus, Cloacina hydriformis Johnston & Mawson, 1938 and C. liebigi Johnston & Mawson, 1939 were widespread while others exhibited more regional distributions. Helminth communities in Queensland and New South Wales exhibited considerable similarity (89%) followed by South Australia (74%) and the south of Western Australia (71%) while the community in the north of Western Australia was the most distinctive (56% similarity).

KEY WORDS:

• Nematoda
• Cestoda
• helminth
• red kangaroo
• Osphranter rufus

Acknowledgments

Many thanks are due to colleagues who helped with the collection of the material utilised in this study, including B. Coman, G. Curran, N.B. Chilton, S. Middleton, R. Speare, D.L. Obendorf, P.J.A. Presidente, P.M. Johnson, A.J. Doube, L. Warner and A. Thomas. Particular thanks are due to Prof. L Warner for identification of the species of Labiosimplex.

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest is reported.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported in part by grants from the Australian Research Council and particularly by the Australian Biological Resources Study [217-06].