Albert Martinez Silvestre

CRARC (Catalonian Reptiles and Amphibians Rescue Center). Masquefa. Barcelona. Spain

Blood analyses have great potential in studies of ecology, ecotoxicology and veterinary science in wild vertebrates based on advances in human and domestic animal medicine. The major caveat for field researchers, however, is that the ‘rules’ for human or domestic animals haematology do not always apply to wildlife. The present overview shows the st...

Cloacoscopy and cystoscopy are simple, noninvasive to minimally invasive techniques that provide excellent visualization, and result in fast recovery. General or intrathecal anesthesia is sufficient. They can be performed in free-ranging turtles under field conditions. Cloacoscopic gender identification of external genitalia is not reliable because...

Chelonians are among the animal groups with the poorest conservation status. Since tortoises are long‐lived species that need very long time to reach sexual maturity, they are extremely vulnerable to human pressure. Despite their endangered status, there are no common strategies for the devel opment of conservation actions. At the “Mediterranean wo...

We report the first cases of mortality in anurans associated with the presence of the fungus Batra-chochytrium dendrobatidis at four different localities from Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula, Spain). All cases were confirmed by both molecular techniques and histology. The infected individuals were two Mediterranean painted frogs (Discoglossus pictu...

The colonization of novel environments requires a favorable response to conditions never, or rarely, encountered in recent evolutionary history. For example, populations colonizing upslope habitats must cope with lower atmospheric pressure at elevation, and thus reduced oxygen availability. The embryo stage in oviparous organisms is particularly su...

skin and digestive microbiology of reptiles

Skin and digestive microbiology in amphibians

Martinez-Silvestre A. et al. 2023. Bull. Soc. Herp. Fr. | Un cas de syndrome d'oedème chez le Calotriton des pyrénées Calotriton asper dans les Hautes-Pyrénées | Summary-For the first time in Calotriton asper (Dugès, 1952) (Urodela : Salamandridae), one specimen with edema syndrome was observed in the French department of Hautes-Pyrénées (65) in th...

Los anfibios son los vertebrados más amenazados. Las enfermedades emergentes de los anfibios, como la quitridiomicosis y ranavirosis, constituyen una de sus amenazas más relevantes, causando mortalidades masivas, declives poblacionales y extinciones. Dada la preocupación internacional por la crisis de los anfibios, en las últimas décadas han surgid...

In 2020 and 2021 we detected in Catalonia (NE Spain) six new episodes of mortality or presence of dying specimens in introduced Mediterranean painted frogs ( Discoglossus pictus ). All affected individuals were positive to the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Histological examinations showed intense involvement of the s...

Expanding the trade of tropical fruits in an increasingly globalized world increases the likelihood of unintentional importation of viable herpetofauna and their parasites from other countries and even continents, since the conditions for growing and transportation of fruits (humidity, temperature) can often be tolerated by exotic amphibians and re...

Boletin de la Asociacion herpetologica Española. (2022). 33. 187-191. Estado sanitario de una población introducida de tortuga mediterránea (Testudo hermanni) en la Sierra del Montsant (Tarragona. Deteccion de Picornavirus y Mycoplasma. Fecha de aceptación: 7 de diciembre de 2022.

Boletin de la Asociacion herpetologica Española. 2022 (33): 19-21. Lagarto verdinegro, Lacerta schreiberi, libre no capturado, con dermatitis proliferativa sospechosa (no confirmada) de infestación fúngica (micosis) conocida como micosis por Chrysosporium / Nannizziopsis (hongo de los lagartos, o "lagarto de piel de alcornoque", o, en algunas espec...

In April 2020, 97 protected salamanders and newts were seized in Barcelona. Among them were 10 specimens of Calotriton arnoldi. Three of these specimens had a body condition index of 2/5 with cutaneous symptoms and five of them died. Numerous health tests were carried out on the animals. The results were negative for all pathogens except Chlamydios...

Detection of the Pathogenic Fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Montseny Amphibians:period 2015-2019 Between 2015 and 2019, 357 samples of wild amphibians in the area were analysed from six species: Calotriton arnoldi (326), Bufo spinosus (6), Lissotriton boscai (20), Hyla meridionalis (1), Rana temporaria (3) and Tritur marmoratus (1). Swab s...

Trematode Parasites on the Montseny Brook Newt (Calotriton arnoldi): a new threat? Between 2018 and 2021, two Montseny brook newts were found dead. In addition, five illegal captive newts from the wild were also analysed. The post mortem study included necropsy, skin qPCR to rule out the presence of the fungi Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and B....

Chytridiomycosis, which is caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans, has been associated with the greatest loss of biodiversity resulting from a disease. In 2019 and 2020 and as part of the Active Amphibian Health Surveillance Programme of Catalonia (ASPrCAT), we gathered skin swabs from 137 amphibians in areas bo...

Captive animal welfare has benefited from various new technologies and a new generation of welfare-minded and better-informed individuals adopting more welfare-oriented practices. However, for captive reptiles, there remain many aspects that are grounded in and reflect a long history of arbitrary or folklore husbandry and advice, and reptile-keepin...

Boletin de la Asociacion Herpetologica Espanola (2022), 33: 31-35. In this case, several evidences that allow to diagnostic a case of copper poisoning in fire salamander larvae (Salamandra salamandra) are shown . IN SPANISH LANGUAGE. En el presente caso se muestran varias evidencias que permiten diagnosticar un caso de intoxicación por cobre en l...

Butlleti de la Societat Catalana d'Herpetologia. 2022. 29:44-55. (In Catalan Language). Between the years 2021 and 2022, a health surveillance has been carried out to detect the 15 main amphibian pathogens of which there is evidence in European amphibians in the Network of Parks of the Provincial Council (Diputació) of Barcelona: Park og Garraf, P...

Mobile zoos are events in which non-domesticated (exotic) and domesticated species are transported to venues such as schools, hospitals, parties, and community centres, for the purposes of education, entertainment, or social and therapeutic assistance. We conducted literature searches and surveyed related government agencies regarding existing prov...

Boletin Asociacion Herpetologica Española. 33:61-65. El síndrome de edema es una enfermedad que afecta a innumerables especies de anfibios y tiene una alta prevalencia. La presente es la primera vez que se describe para ambos grupos (anuros y urodelos) y con un análisis histológico en uno de los ejemplares.

The use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in urodeles has become popular for individual marking in population and disease ecology studies. However, mark loss or mark-induced mortality can introduce biases and decrease precision in parameter estimates, leading to ineffective population management strategies. In this study we aimed to 1) a...

Fecha de aceptación: 15 de diciembre de 2021.

The number of epizootics in amphibian populations caused by viruses of the genus Ranavirus is increasing worldwide. Yet, causes for pathogen emergence are poorly understood. Here, we confirmed that the Common midwife toad virus (CMTV) and Frog virus 3 (FV3) are responsible for mass mortalities in Iberia since the late 1980s. Our results illustrate...

Between the years 2021 and 2022, monitoring has been carried out to detect 15 emerging diseases that threaten the amphibians of the Parks Network of the Barcelona Provincial Council. The results show that the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is expanding in all parks except Olèrdola and Guilleries, affecting the species Pelodytes punctatu...

The results show that the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is spreading, although not linked to mortality, in all analyzed parks except Olérdola, affecting the species Pelodltes punctatus, Hylla meidionalis, Salamandra salamandra, Pelophllax perezi and Bufo spinosus. Finally, intoxication has also been diagnosed by copper in salamander larvae...

Chytridiomycosis, caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), has had an unprecedented impact on amphibian biodiversity. Although Bd is globally widespread, Bsal is currently spreading, increasing the probability that these pathogens will co-occur in individual amphibians. Interactions among coinfecti...

En abril de 2020 se realizó un control veterinario de 106 salamandras y tritones de una colección privada de más de 500 urodelos exóticos y autóctonos dedicados al intercambio de estas especies en Barcelona. Las pruebas analíticas realizadas fueron negativas a todos los patógenos excepto a Chlamydia y a Bd . Además, se detectaron formas larvarias (...

Exotic aquatic turtle species often become favorite pets, especially juveniles. Later, at the adult stage, they are commonly released into the wild. However, questions remain - how likely it is that, these thermophilic exotic turtles can establish themselves in Eastern Europe and neighboring territories.

In 2020 and 2021 we have detected in Catalonia (NE Spain) four new locations for the introduced Mediterranean painted frog (Discoglossus pictus) with mortality or dying specimens. All of them were positive for the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Histology showed intense involvement of the superficial layers of the epidermis. Infection l...

World's Veterinary Journal. 12(1):81-86. Body coloration of emydids can be triggered by different types of factors. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the changes in plastron color of Florida Red-bellied Turtle Pseudemys nelsoni (P. nelsoni Carr, 1938), an emydid of North America. In the current study, 15 (3 males and 12 females) fr...

Boletin Asociacion Herpetologica Española: 32:63-66. En los lagartos verdes europeos, y principalmente en el lagarto verde oriental Lacerta viridis, se ha descrito casos de papilomas epiteliales, generalmente diagnosticados en ejemplares en cautividad. El 24 de abril de 2021 se observaron y fotografiaron dos lagartos adultos (macho y hembra) de L....

Consulta de Difusion Veterinaria. 30(287):45-51. En la naturaleza, los cambios en el medio ambiente pueden modificar las dinámicas existentes entre huéspedes y patógenos, dando lugar a la aparición de enfermedades. En las últimas décadas, ha habido cambios ambientales que están afectando a los anfibios y la presencia y persistencia de ciertos patóg...

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The aim of this research was to contribute to the study of the doming geometry of Testudo carapace as an unstable point of equilibrium when animals are overturned. We performed this research using geometric morphometric using a sample of 64 Testudo individuals belonging to different species (T. hermanni n = 30, T. graeca n = 3, T. marginata n = 13...

Peer Community Journal. 2: e5. Two types of pathogens cause highly contagious upper respiratory tract diseases (URTD) in Chelonians: testudinid herpesviruses (TeHV) and a mycoplasma (Mycoplasma agassizii). In captivity, these infections are frequent and can provoke outbreaks. Pet trade generates an international flow of tortoises, often without san...

Boletin de la Asociacion Herpetologica Española. 32(1-2): 101-103. Las anomalías digitales o del antebrazo son relativamente normales en anfibios anuros (Williams et al., 2008). Respecto a los miembros extranumerarios se han descrito polimelia, polifalangia y polidactilia (Meteyer, 2000). En el género Alytes están descritas las tres anomalías digi...

Reptiles medicine, surgery and husbandry. In Spanish. Medicina, manejo y cirugia de reptiles. En Español.

Amphibians medicine, surgery and husbandry. In Spanish. Medicina, manejo y cirugia de anfibios. En Español.

Boletin Asociacion Herpetologica Española. 2021. 32(1) 151- 155. En la presente nota se describe el hallazgo en Barcelona (España) de un ejemplar de esta especie, transportado de modo accidental mediante transportes de carga de materiales de construcción desde Bogotá (Colombia). Esta representa la primera vez que se describe un traslado de tal dis...

Diputació Barcelona. Presentation on sanitary status of amphibians in general and Montseny brook salamander in particular in Montseny Natural Park in the period 2015 - 2020 . New description of presence of the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in wild amphibians, detection of bacteria Chlamydia in a ilegal collection as well as a trematoda cyst...

Testudo (Journal British chelonian group). 9:37-45. This health survey of the free-living population of Testudo hermanni hermanni in the Albera region showed an almost complete absence of Herpesvirus, a very high incidence of Mycoplasma, but without any apparent effect on health, and a worrying effect of Picornavirus on the health and survival of t...

Massive die-offs have been reported in Europe, especially in western Europe. Bd is widespread with low prevalence in central Eastern Europe and the Balkans , as well as in northern Europe but no evidence of Bd-linked population declines has been recorded from these regions so far.

La quitridiomicosis y la ranavirosis afectan ya a miles de especies, y se extienden sin control a través de las especies introducidas, el comercio internacional de especies en general, y el de mascotas, en particular. Este ambicioso proyecto pretende, por un lado, analizar el estado actual de la incidencia de estas enfermedades emergentes de anfibi...

En este trabajo analizamos la presencia de Ranavirus y de parásitos intestinales en galápagos alóctonos (Trachemys scripta elegans, Trachemys scripta scripta, Pseudemys peninsularis y Pseudemys concinna) capturados en libertad en Cataluña.

Chelonians are among the most threatened animal groups because due to life history strategy, they are extremely vulnerable to human pressure. At the ""Mediterranean workshop to develop tortoise conservation strategies"" scientists, conservation associations, environmental managers, IUCN advisers and CITES inspectors met in 2019 in Spain. The aims w...

Aquí presentamos los resultados de diversos análisis (qPCR, necropsia, histología y citología) de seis animales, cinco de ellos encontrados muertos y uno encontrado vivo con síntomas de la enfermedad. Los resultados muestran que la enfermedad en esta especie alcanza cargas de infección extremadamente elevadas que permiten incluso un diagnóstico ráp...

Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate taxa on Earth, with over 40% of their species at risk of extinction. Therefore, there is an increasing need to monitor their health status and population trends. Capture-mark-recapture studies are an essential tool to study population and disease dynamics. Marking techniques need to be reliable, having...

A bstract Two types of pathogens cause highly contagious upper respiratory tract diseases (URTD) in Chelonians: testudinid herpesviruses (TeHV) and a mycoplasma ( Mycoplasma agassizii ). In captivity, these infections are frequent and can provoke outbreaks. Pet trade generates international flow of tortoises, often without sanitary checking; indivi...

Snakes are sentient animals and should be subject to the accepted general welfare principles of other species. However, they are also the only vertebrates commonly housed in conditions that prevent them from adopting rectilinear behavior (ability to fully stretch out). To assess the evidence bases for historical and current guidance on snake spatia...

Snakes are sentient animals and should be subject to the accepted general welfare principles of other species. However, they are also the only vertebrates commonly housed in conditions that prevent them from adopting rectilinear behavior (ability to fully stretch out). To assess the evidence bases for historical and current guidance on snake spatia...

Despite the relevance of chemical communication in vertebrates, comparative examinations of macroevolutionary trends in chemical signaling systems are scarce. Many turtle and tortoise species are reliant on chemical signals to communicate in aquatic and terrestrial macrohabitats, and many of these species possess specialized integumentary organs, t...

Amphibians are threatened globally and emerging diseases are some of the most important drivers of their catastrophic situation. There is increasing evidence that the international trade in live amphibians is one of the most important mechanisms driving pathogen pollution. Here, we report the presence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Rana...

Picornavirus is a recently confirmed agent to cause outbreaks of mortality in young tortoises. An outbreak in a breeding center of this species is described. Out of a total of 110 infants in 2019, 85 were affected with symptoms and 45 animals died. Histology showed renal tubule vacuolization, renal interstitial edema, and loss of bone remodeling. S...

Testudo. Journal of British Chelonian group. Vol. X. 2021. This health survey of the free-living population of Testudo hermanni hermanni in the Albera region showed an almost complete absence of Herpesvirus, a very high incidence of Mycoplasma, but without any apparent effect on health, and a worrying effect of Picornavirus on the health and surviv...

In order to advance understanding of the current infection status related to the presence of Batrachochytrium spp. in different populations, we tested for the presence/absence (qualitative analysis) of Bd and Bsal in 13 monitored populations and measured the Bd infection loads (quantitative analysis) of 16 populations of the Pyrenean Brook Newt in...

The trading and keeping of exotic pets are associated with animal welfare, conservation, environmental protection, agricultural animal health, and public health concerns and present serious regulatory challenges to legislators and enforcers. Most legislation concerning exotic pet trading and keeping involves restricting or banning problematic speci...

Boletin de la Asociacion Herpetologica Española, 31: 78-79. Se describe un caso de hinchazón por síndrome de edema en tritón jaspeado (Triturus marmoratus) en libertad en Galicia (NW España).

En la Rana pyrenaica, del Parque Nacional Ordesa Monteperdido, la infección por el hongo Batrachochitrium dendrobatidis es moderada, probablemente por la ausencia de su principal superhospedador en zonas de montaña (larvas invernantes de A. obstetricans). El virus Ranavirus está ampliamente extendido en el parque, infectando a todas las especies y...

In the Eocene sea turtle Osonochelus decorata (Lapparent de Broin, et al., 2014) a detailed review of the specimen allowed the detection of a digital fracture in the middle phalanx of the left hind limb. This fracture was recovered and consolidated with malunion during the individual's life. In comparison with the casuistry in current marine turtle...

Climate change is generating range shifts in many organisms, notably along the altitudinal gradient. However, moving up in altitude exposes organisms to lower oxygen availability, which may negatively affect development and fitness, especially at high temperatures. To test this possibility in a potentially upward-colonizing species, we artificially...

Climate change is generating range shifts in many organisms, notably along the altitudinal gradient. However, moving up in altitude exposes organisms to lower oxygen availability, which may negatively affect development and fitness, especially at high temperatures. To test this possibility in a potentially upward-colonizing species, we artificially...

Reptiles & Amphibians Conservation and Natural History, 2020. 27: 1-3.

Butlleti de la Societat Catalana d'Herpetologia. 28:53-56. The finding of a population of common parsley frog (Pelodytes punctatus) with 15 albino specimens in the Osona region (Barcelona, Catalonia) is described. The specimens had already metamorphosed and had the same size, and thus we consider them siblings of the same clutch with passing of the...

Testudo. 29(3): 4-20. Bereits im Herbst 2019 war ein Artikel über die autochthonen und allochtho- nen Landschildkröten in Katalonien in der Radiata erschienen (PFAU & BUDO 2019), und wir danken der SIGS, dass wir die verschiedenen Aspekte hier leicht verändert und an die neuen Erkenntnisse angepasst noch einmal publik machen können. Vor allem die T...