Endoparasites in the Waved Albatross

Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui (Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador) and colleagues have published in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases on the presence of endoparasites in the Critically Endangered Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata.

The paper's abstract follows:

“Using a fecal flotation technique, we detected three genera of endoparasites in the critically endangered Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) of Galápagos.  These genera were Contracaecum,Tetrabothrius, and Cardiocephaloides.  Juvenile albatrosses were more likely to be infected than adults, but we found no effect of sex or mass on infection probability.”

Waved Albatross, photograph by Ron LeValley

Reference:

Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G., Soledad Sarzosa, M., Encalada, E., Sevilla, C. & Huyvaert, K.P. 2015.  Gastrointestinal Parasites in the Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) of Galápagos.  Journal of Wildlife Diseases  doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7589/2014-06-165http://dx.doi.org/10.7589/2014-06-165.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 June 2015