Meeting Abstract

P3.122  Monday, Jan. 6 15:30  A comparison of parasites in native and invasive anurans: Can parasitic nematodes of invasive anurans survive in native North American anuran hosts? LIGHTFOOT, H.A.*; MENDONCA, M.T.; GOESSLING, J.M.; ADDLA, A.S.; Auburn Univ., Auburn; Auburn Univ., Auburn; Auburn Univ., Auburn; Auburn Univ., Auburn hal0004@tigermail.auburn.edu

The Cane toad, Rhinella marina, is native to South America and has become an invasive pest in tropical and subtropical regions globally, including Hawaii, Australia, the Caribbean, and peninsular Florida. Invasive Cane toads are highly toxic to many native predators and can act as predators on native anurans. We tested if the Cane toads serve as vectors of exotic parasites and transfer these parasites to North American anurans. To compare the parasites found in the lungs of Cane toads to the parasites found in the lungs of a sympatric Floridian toad species (the Southern toad, Anaxyrus terrestris), we amplified and sequenced the ITS5 nuclear gene of lungworms from Cane toads and Southern toads across a latitudinal gradient where both species of toad are sympatric, as well as one location where Cane toads are not yet found. A BLAST search indicated that all parasites sequenced from the Cane toad, in all locations collected, were Rhabdias pseudosphaerocephala. We found three different species of parasites in the Southern toad. In the site where Cane toads are absent, Southern toads were parasitized by Rhabdias americanus and Rhabdias joaguinensis. These lungworm species are those typically found in native toad species. Southern toad parasites sequenced from locations within the invasive species range were Rhabdias pseudosphaerocephala, the same species found in the invasive Cane toad. The extent of the cross-species infection of parasites to a native species suggests that the native anurans now harbor Cane toad lungworms. This is the first documented observation of invasive lungworm parasites being found in North American toad species.