First record of Ornithodoros faccinii (Acari: Argasidae) on toads of genus Rhinella (Anura: Bufonidae) in Brazil

Abstract Although a group of soft ticks (Argasidae) associated with amphibians was recently discovered in Brazilian rainforests, parasitism by these ticks on cold-blooded animals remains less common than on mammal and bird species. In this study, we identified ticks that were collected from toads that had been caught in December 2016 and January 2017, at Itinguçú waterfall (22°54’05” S; 43°53’30” W) in the municipality of Itaguaí, state of Rio de Janeiro. Tick specimens were identified using a morphological and molecular approach. In total, twelve larvae of Ornithodoros ticks were collected from three individuals of Rhinella ornata and were identified as Ornithodoros faccinii. Our results include a longer 16S rRNA mitochondrial sequence for O. faccinii that supports its phylogenetic relatedness to Ornithodoros saraivai, and we report this tick species parasitizing Rhinella toads for the first time in Brazil.

摘要 尽管近期在巴西热带雨林中发现了一类与两栖动物相关的软蜱（Argasidae），但这类蜱虫对冷血动物的寄生现象仍远少于其对哺乳类与鸟类的寄生。本研究针对2016年12月至2017年1月，在里约热内卢州伊塔瓜伊市伊廷古苏瀑布（22°54′05″ S；43°53′30″ W）捕获的蟾蜍携带的蜱虫展开鉴定工作。研究采用形态学与分子生物学方法对蜱虫标本进行鉴定：总计从3只饰纹棘蟾（Rhinella ornata）个体体内采集到12只奥氏蜱属（Ornithodoros）幼虫，经鉴定为法西尼奥氏蜱（Ornithodoros faccinii）。本研究获得了更长的法西尼奥氏蜱16S rRNA线粒体序列，该序列佐证了其与萨拉瓦伊奥氏蜱（Ornithodoros saraivai）的系统发育亲缘关系；同时首次报道了巴西境内该蜱虫物种寄生于棘蟾属蟾蜍的案例。