Mike Kinsella

• PhD
• HelmWest Laboratory

Members of the genus Scaphanocephalus mature in accipitrids, particularly osprey, Pandion haliaetus, with metacercaria causing Black Spot Syndrome in reef fishes. In most of the world, only the type species, Scaphanocephalus expansus (Creplin, 1842) has been reported. Recent molecular studies in the Western Atlantic, Mediterranean and Persian Gulf...

A parasite-host, host-parasite and distribution-based checklist of helminths found in bats (Chiroptera) of North America north of Mexico is presented. The parasite-host checklist includes a total of 93 species (including records without a species identification) of helminth parasites reported in the literature from 30 species of bats. These include...

Long-term data allow ecologists to assess trajectories of population abundance. Without this context, it is impossible to know whether a taxon is thriving or declining to extinction. For parasites of wildlife, there are few long-term data-a gap that creates an impediment to managing parasite biodiversity and infectious threats in a changing world....

The Baltimore–Bullock’s oriole hybrid zone is one of the best-studied avian hybrid zones in North America, yet our understanding of the causes of selection against hybrids remains poor. We examine if endohelminth parasites may cause selection against hybrid orioles but found no evidence for this hypothesis. Of the 139 male orioles we examined, 43 i...

Aim While most free‐living taxa follow the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG), or the trend of higher diversity at lower latitudes, we know little about how the diversity of parasitic taxa is distributed across latitudes. To better understand the macroecological patterns of parasite diversity, we sought to determine whether (1) helminths follow t...

Earth is rapidly losing free-living species. Is the same true for parasitic species? To reveal temporal trends in biodiversity, historical data are needed, but often such data do not exist for parasites. Here, parasite communities of the past were reconstructed by identifying parasites in fluid-preserved specimens held in natural history collection...

Parasite Physaloptera hispida (Nematoda) found in Burmese pythons.

Studies of parasitism in chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) are infrequent and mainly refer to the identification and description of its parasites, with little ecological data. In an attempt to address that lack of knowledge, we collected endo- and ecto-parasites from 326 live and four dead of chinstrap penguins, in three different localiti...

Pharyngostomoides, Alaria and Didelphodiplostomum are among genera of diplostomid digeneans known to parasitize mammalian definitive hosts. Despite numerous recent molecular phylogenetic studies of diplostomids, limited DNA sequence data is available from diplostomids parasitic in mammals. Herein, we provide the first 28S rDNA and cox1 mtDNA sequen...

Oxyurid nematodes (Syphacia spp.) from bank (Myodes glareolus) and field/common (Microtus spp.) voles, from disparate geographical sites in the British Isles, were examined morphologically and genetically. The genetic signatures of 118 new isolates are provided, based primarily on the rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) region and fo...

Equids are chronically infected with parasitic strongyle nematodes. There is a rich literature on horse strongyles, but they are difficult to identify morphologically and genetic studies on strongyles infecting other equid species are few, hampering studies of host specificity. We sequenced expelled worms from two sympatric zebra species in central...

Invasive species impact native wildlife in several ways, as they compete for resources and may transmit their specific pathogens. However, the potential consequences of co-introduced parasites are not fully understood. While the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) was introduced in Chile about a century ago, no data are available regarding its parasi...

Historical data are extremely rare but essential for ascertaining whether contemporary infectious disease burdens are unusual. Natural history collections are a valuable source of such data, especially for reconstructing long timelines of parasite abundance. We quantified the parasites of 109 museum specimens of English sole (Parophrys vetulus), an...

PurposeNothing is known about the coccidian parasites of vagrant shrews, Sorex vagrans Baird, 1868. Here we report, for the first time, the occurrence of Eimeria longirostris Hertel and Duszynski, 1987 from faecal contents of S. vagrans from Montana, USA.Methods Faecal samples, collected in July and August 2020 from six pitfall-trapped vagrant shre...

Parasitological studies of the Franklin’s gull, Leucophaeus pipixcan, are scarce, and knowledge about its endoparasites is quite limited. In order to describe its parasitic community, a total of 60 Franklin’s gulls were captured in the coastal area in central Chile, using modified Bal-chatri traps. Ectoparasites were collected from all 60 live indi...

Comparative studies of parasites in sympatric bird species have been generally scarce. Parasitic infection/transmission can be spread in a number of ways that suggests possible direct and indirect, horizontal transmission between avian hosts. In order to determine whether two sympatric icterids from Central and Southern Chile share their parasite f...

Invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) have introduced a nonnative pentastomid parasite (Raillietiella orientalis) to southern Florida that has spilled over to infect native snakes. However, the extent of spillover, regarding prevalence and intensity, is unknown. We examined native snakes (n = 523) and invasive pythons (n = 1003) collected fr...

The Neotropic cormorant Nannopterum (Phalacrocorax) brasilianus (Suliformes: Phalacrocoracidae) is widely distributed in Central and South America. In Chile, information about parasites for this species is limited to helminths and nematodes, and little is known about other parasite groups. This study documents the parasitic fauna present in 80 Neot...

This study identifies the endoparasites in Red-footed tortoises (Chelonoidis carbonaria) during March 2018 to March 2019 from Grenada, West Indies. Fecal samples from a total of 103 tortoises were collected and examined by simple fecal floatation techniques for parasitic eggs and oocysts. Adult parasites found in the feces were examined under the m...

Feces (n = 226; 2004-2015) from healthy captive and wild blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) from Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, were examined for endoparasites. Parasites identified included Nyctotherus sp. and Entamoeba sp. cysts and trophozoites, trichomonad trophozoites, and oxyurid and trichostrongylid eggs. Endoparasites from postmortem examinations...

Despite the evidence that diseases have increased in marine taxa, parasites remain underrepresented in studies of marine ecology. Recently, observations of black-spot syndrome (BSS) in Caribbean fishes, especially ocean surgeonfishes, Acanthurus tractus (Poey, 1860), have been reported, although its cause(s) has remained conjectural. We investigate...

This work contributes to the knowledge of digeneans in two species of Holochilus Brant, 1835 from nine localities of Argentina. Morphological characteristics and ecological data are provided. Holochilus vulpinus (Brants, 1827) and H. chacarius Thomas, 1906 were parasitized by only one digenean species, Cladorchis pyriformis (Diesing, 1838). The mor...

Information about parasites associated with diurnal raptors from Chile is scarce. Between 2006 and 2017, a total of 15 specimens of the Variable hawk, Geranoaetus polyosoma (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) were collected, 14 of them from different localities in the Biobío region and one specimen from the Valparaíso region. An external examination of the plum...

Local and global measurements of parasite prevalence and abundance are critical for understanding the dynamics that underlie the diversity, distribution, and evolution of infectious diseases. Here, we present a data set of gut helminths found in (1) raccoons throughout their range, based on primary literature from 1925–2017 and (2) raccoons in Sant...

Ecotones can increase free‐living species richness, but little is known about how parasites respond to ecotones. Here, we use parasite communities in raccoons (Procyon lotor) to test the hypothesis that parasite communities can be divided into core and satellite species, each with fundamentally different responses to ecotones. We used published par...

A total of thirty Austral thrushes Turdus falcklandii Quoy & Gaimard, 1824 (Turdidae) carcasses were brought to the Departamento de Ciencia Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción, to be examined for ecto- and endoparasites. Ectoparasites were found on 20% (6/30) of the thrushes and belonged to species Brueelia magellan...

With the aim to identify the parasite fauna of plumbeous rail, Pardirallus sanguinolentus (Aves: Rallidae) in Chile, 26 carcasses were parasitologically necropsied. The present study revealed the presence of 14 species of parasites (inverse Simpson index = 4.64; evenness = 0.332), including ectoparasites: feather mites: Analloptes megnini , Grallob...

To describe the parasitic community of the Magellanic Horned Owl, Bubo magellanicus (Aves, Strigiformes), 19 carcasses from central Chile were analyzed. Ectoparasites were collected through plumage inspection, while endoparasites were collected through traditional techniques of parasitological necropsy. Sixteen owls were infected with at least one...

Two new species of Staphylocystoides are described from masked shrews Sorex cinereus: Staphylocystis oligospinosus n. sp. was collected from the vicinity of Missoula, Montana, United States and Staphylocystoides parasphenomorphus n. sp. was collected from the vicinity of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. Morphological differentiation from known...

Pathogen introductions associated with aquatic invasive species threaten ecosystems and biodiversity worldwide. Bigheaded carps (BHC), including Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Bighead Carp H. nobilis, and their hybrids, are prolific, invasive pests in central US rivers. However, little is known about pathogen effects on invading BHC or ho...

Identification of the origin of parasites of nonindigenous species (NIS) can be complex. NIS may introduce parasites from their native range and acquire parasites from within their invaded range. Determination of whether parasites are non-native or native can be complicated when parasite genera occur within both the NIS’ native range and its introd...

External and gastrointestinal parasites of the rufous-collared sparrow Zonotrichia capensis (Passeriformes, Emberizidae) in Chile Parasitas gastrointestinais e externos do tico-tico Zonotrichia capensis (Passeriformes, Emberizidae) do Chile Abstract A total of 277 rufous-collared sparrows, Zonotrichia capensis Müller, 1776 (Emberizidae), were exami...

A total of 97 southern silvery grebes (Podiceps occipitalis), which died as the result of an oil spill on the coast of central Chile, were examined for ecto- and endoparasites. Two lice species including Aquanirmus rollandii (Philopteridae) and Pseudomenopon dolium (Menoponidae) were found from 6.2% (6/97) of birds. In 91.7% (89/97) of cases, grebe...

The Beringian Coevolution Project (BCP), a field program underway in the high northern latitudes since 1999, has focused on building key scientific infrastructure for integrated specimen-based studies on mammals and their associated parasites. BCP has contributed new insights across temporal and spatial scales into how ancient climate and environme...

We examined the associations between intestinal helminth infracommunity structure and infection parameters and the age, size, and year and region of collection of 130 female lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) during their 2014–2015 spring migrations through the upper Midwest, USA.We identified a total of 647,174 individual helminths from 40 taxa, includ...

Gongylonema archboldi n. sp. (Nematoda: Gongylonematidae) is described from tunnels in the gastric mucosa of the stomach of the cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) from Highlands County, Florida, U.S.A. Measurements are also given for specimens from cotton mice (Peromyscus gossypinus), oldfield mice (Peromyscus polionotus), Florida mice (Podomys florida...

The air sacs of free-ranging birds of prey (n = 652) from southern Italy, including 11 species of Accipitriformes and 6 of Falconiforms, were examined for infections of Serratospiculum tendo (Nematoda: Diplotriaenoidea). Of the 17 species of birds examined, 25 of 31 (80.6%) peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) from Calabria Region and a single nort...

To date, 21 species of the genus Angiostrongylus (Nematoda: Angiostrongylidae) have been reported around the world, 15 of which are parasites of rodents. In this study, new host, geographic records, and histopathologic studies of Angiostrongylus spp in sigmodontine rodents from Argentina, with an updated summary of records from rodent hosts and hos...

A project documenting the diversity of endo- and ecto-parasites of South Africa’s avifauna is ongoing since late 2011. Live birds have been sampled for ectoparasites during field trips to different parts of the country while accompanying ringers. For endoparasites, road kills were collected and sampled. Results for Limpopo province are presented he...

Parasite species are important components of biodiversity, as they provide valuable information about host health, evolutionary relationships, population structures, trophic interactions, the existence of environmental stresses, and climatic conditions. With the aim of describing the parasites associated with parrots of the genus Enicognathus Gray...

A total of 111 samples (43 faeces and 79 gastrointestinal tracts) of 14 wild carnivore species from 12 Argentine provinces were analyzed. Helminth eggs were identified in 73% of the faecal samples and adult worms were recovered from 81% of the gastrointestinal tracts. We found 19 helminth species. Among the most frequent findings were parasites of...

The life history characteristics of hosts often influence patterns of parasite infection either by affecting the likelihood of parasite exposure or the probability of infection following exposure. In birds, migratory behavior has been suggested to affect both the composition and abundance of parasites within a host, although whether migratory birds...

The objective of this study is to evaluate the ectoparasites and helminths of the white-crested elaenia, Elaenia albiceps chilensis. Feather mites Anisophyllodes elaeniae, Trouessartia elaeniae, and Analges sp. were detected in 51% of birds (n=106), whereas 24% were infected with lice (Tyranniphilopterus delicatulus, Menacanthus cfr. distinctus, an...

Los parásitos pueden causar variados y extensos efectos 􀁖􀁒􀁅􀁕􀁈􀀃􀁏􀁄􀀃􀄆􀁖􀁌􀁒􀁏􀁒􀁊􀂯􀁄􀀏􀀃􀁐􀁒􀁕􀁉􀁒􀁏􀁒􀁊􀂯􀁄􀀃􀁜􀀃􀁆􀁒􀁐􀁓􀁒􀁕􀁗􀁄􀁐􀁌􀁈􀁑􀁗􀁒􀀃􀁇􀁈􀀃􀁏􀁄􀁖􀀃 aves. Pueden producir además disturbios en la habilidad termorreguladora, reducción de la masa corporal, alteración de procesos de selección sexual y abandono temprano del nido. Un ave muy común en los humedales neotropicales es el Nyctoc...

Heligmosomoides americanus is shown by molecular phylogenetic analysis of 3 nuclear (28S, ITS1, and ITS2) and 2 mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase 1 and cytochrome b) loci to be a distinct species of heligmosomid nematode with a long-independent evolutionary history, and not a subspecies of Heligmosomoides polygyrus . Rather than being a recent arri...

The White-crested elaenia Elaenia albiceps chilensis Hellmayr, 1927 is a bird than in winter is distributed from Colombian southeastern to the Amazon regions of Peru and Brazil, and during the summer migrate to Chile to reproduce in to their full extent. Currently, there are three parasites described, the lice Ricinus sp. and Tyranniphilopterus del...

Alippistrongylus bicaudatus gen. et sp. n. (Nematoda: Heligmonellidae) is described from the striped Atlantic forest rat, Delomys dorsalis (Hensel) (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae), from the province of Misiones in Argentina. The new genus and species is characterised by a synlophe of 21 unequal ridges in both sexes without a gradient in size, with two ri...

Wild animals are commonly parasitized by a wide range of helminths. The four major types of helminths are "roundworms" (nematodes), "thorny-headed worms" (acanthocephalans), "flukes" (trematodes), and "tapeworms" (cestodes). The optimum method for collecting helminths is to examine a host that has been dead less than 4-6 hr since most helminths wil...

A total of 27 Long-tailed Meadowlarks Sturnella loyca (Molina, 1782) from the Biobio Region were examined between January 2005 and December 2008. Birds were infected with chewing lice (Phthiraptera), feather mites (Acari), and helminths (Platyhelminthes, Acanthocephala). Three species of chewing lice were found: Brueelia boae Cicchino and Castro, 1...

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

Abstract Historically wildlife conservation was based on habitat protection and exploitation control. Only recently have diseases been considered an important issue. However, pathogens are usually described during or after disease outbreaks, but to determine which pathogens may be emerging, surveys of wildlife health are critical in a given time. T...

Following deaths in a flock of Golden Pheasants, Chrysolophus pictus, in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, during June 2008, necropsies of dead birds were undertaken and revealed a heavy mixed infection of Heterakis isolonche and H. gallinarum in the caeca, which were heavily swollen with gross nodules on the surface. Infected caeca were studied...

Staphylocystis clydesengeri n. sp. is described from shrews Sorex vagrans in Montana and Washington, United States. It differs from the only previously known North American representative of the genus, S. schilleri, in having more numerous (37–42 vs 22–30) and larger (39–44 µm vs 27–30 µm) rostellar hooks. The two species also differ in several oth...

Kalicephalus burseyi n. sp. (Nematoda: Diaphanocephalidae) is described from a snake, Oxyrhabdium leporinum, on Luzon Island, Philippines. Unequal spicule length places the new species in the subgenus Kalicephaloides, which also includes Kalicephaloides bungari, Kalicephaloides longispicularis, and Kalicephaloides alatospiculus. Kalicephalus bursey...

We perform the first multidisciplinary study of parasites from an extinct megafaunal clade using coprolites from the New Zealand moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes). Ancient DNA and microscopic analyses of 84 coprolites deposited by four moa species (South Island giant moa, Dinornis robustus; little bush moa, Anomalopteryx didiformis; heavy-footed moa, Pa...

We compared the helminth communities of 5 owl species from Calabria (Italy) and evaluated the effect of phylogenetic and ecological factors on community structure. Two host taxonomic scales were considered, i.e., owl species, and owls vs. birds of prey. The latter scale was dealt with by comparing the data here obtained with that of birds of prey f...

Chabaudacuaria n. g. is erected, as monotypic, for C. multispinosa (Pérez Vigueras, 1938) n. comb. (Spirurida: Acuariidae) [syns Cheilospirura multispinosa Pérez Vigueras, 1938; Acuaria multispinosa (Pérez Vigueras, 1938) Yamaguti, 1961]. This species, a parasite of various ardeid birds, is redescribed by means of light and scanning electron micros...

African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) are an ecologically and economically important species in many African habitats. However, despite the importance of elephants, research on their parasites is limited, especially in wild populations. Currently, we lack genetic tools to identify elephant parasites. We present genetic markers from riboso...

Parasite assemblages of the Western whip snake Hierophis viridiflavus carbonarius were investigated from the Calabria region in southern Italy. A total of 14 parasite taxa including 6 nematodes, 3 acanthocephalans, 2 cestodes, 2 digeneans and a single pentastomid was identified. Within the study area, H. v. carbonarius serves as the final host for...

Abstract Angiostrongylus is a metastrongylid nematode that includes species found in carnivores, rodents, and occasionally primates (including humans). About 100 species of wild sigmodontine rodents occur in Argentina, 16 of which are species of Akodon. The lungs of Akodon azarae and Akodon molinae from Sierra de la Ventana, Buenos Aires, Argentina...

The black-backed woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) is a species of management concern in California. As part of a study of black-backed woodpecker home range size and foraging ecology, nine birds in Lassen National Forest (Shasta and Lassen Counties, California) were radio-tracked during the 2011 breeding season. One of the marked birds was found dead...

Using slit-lamp biomicroscopy, conjunctival biopsy, and morphological identification, a flock of four Greater rheas (Rhea americana) in Arizona were diagnosed with conjunctivitis secondary to Philophthalmus gralli (P. gralli) infection. Aquatic snails from the exhibit's water source were identified as Melanoides tuberculatus, a known vector for P....

A pesar de su importancia, la fauna helmíntica de aves psitácidas ha sido poco investigada en Chile. En el presente estudio se reporta la presencia de Tetrameres sp. en Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae, de Schistorophus sp. en Platycercus flaveolus y de Dispharynx nasuta en P. flaveolus, Platycercus eximius, Platycercus elegans, Polytelis alexandrae, y...

Gastrointestinal and external parasites from 12 Green–backed Firecrown (Sephanoides sephaniodes) were collected between January 2004 and December 2008 from the Biobío Region south–central Chile and Santiago (central Chile). Helminths collected included 1 trematode species (Mosesia sp.) and 1 cestode species (Hymenolepis trinidadensis). The mite Pro...

Gastrointestinal and external parasites from 12 Green-backed Firecrown (Sephanoides sephaniodes) were collected between January 2004 and December 2008 from the Biobío Region south-central Chile and Santiago (central Chile). Helminths collected included 1 trematode species (Mosesia sp.) and 1 cestode species (Hymenolepis trinidadensis). The mite Pro...

We compared helminth communities in 6 species of birds of prey from the Calabria region of southern Italy. In total, 31 helminth taxa, including 17 nematodes, 9 digeneans, 3 acanthocephalans, and 2 cestodes, were found. All helminth species were observed in the gastrointestinal tract, except for 3 spirurid nematodes. Most of the parasite species we...

The acuarioid nematode Echinuria skrjabiniensis Efimov in Skryabin, Sobolev et Ivashkin, 1965 was found in Calidris bairdii and C. fuscicollis (Aves, Scolopacidae) examined from several locations from Patagonia, Argentina. These constitute new host records as well as the first record of this parasite species in South America. Using both light and s...

In total, 26 western willets, Tringa semipalmata inornata , were examined for helminth parasites, including 8 spring migrating hosts from the Chihuahua Desert, Rio Grande Valley, Texas, and 18 post-breeding hosts from east central Montana. Sixteen species of helminth parasites were present in component communities for both spring migrants and post-...

Communities of helminths are known to be related to feeding behaviors of hosts. While climate change and overfishing can impact food availability for Antarctic piscivorous predators, knowledge about infectious and parasitic diseases among Antarctic species is scarce or fragmentary. We studied the helminth community of King penguins (Aptenodytes pat...

Over the past decades, as a result of various human activities involving intentional or unintentional movement of animals, many helminth species have been introduced to new regions with several ecological and epidemiological implications for the native species. A high prevalence of infection with an introduced digenean Renifer aniarum, previously k...

Durante 9 años, desde marzo de 2001 hasta diciembre de 2009, colectamos los parásitos externos y gastrointestinales de 15 halcones Falco sparverius cinnamominus de un centro de rehabilitación en la Región del Biobío en el centro-sur de Chile. Los helmintos colectados incluyeron una especie de trematodo (Ascocotyle felippei), una especie de cestodo...