Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

PREFERENTIAL FIXATION SITES AND RELATIVE FREQUENCIES OF ECTOPARASITES AT ATELERIX ALGIRUS (LEREBOULLET, 1842) IN A LOCALITY ON THE NORTH EAST OF ALGERIA

Senaoui Charefeddine, Boukheroufa Mehdi, Sakraoui Feriel and Sakraoui Walid

Abstract

The Algerian Hedgehog is an urban adapter that plays the role of vector and host for many parasites, causing the transmission of many pathologies. Our study consists in identifying the different ecoparasitic species according to their fixation site on the host organism and in analyzing the flow of their relative frequencies according to the season and sex of the the host. The study was conducted in the locality of Berrihane from April 2017 until May 2018, where 32 field-collected hedgehogs (19 females, 13 males) were measured, weighed then dewormed. The ectoparasites were identified and counted for the calculation of the relative frequencies. The results showed two groups of ectoparasites: fleas and ticks. The taxonomic identification of the fleas allowed to characterize Archeopsylla erinacea but also Ctenocephalide felis, which confirms the tendency to urbanization of the host species. The results also show that the preferred sites of tick fixation on the body of Atelerix algirus are highly dependent on the anatomical characteristics of the mouthparts of ticks, and on the choice of heavily irrigated areas. Taxonomic identification of ticks characterized three species: Rhipicephalus turanicus, Rhipicephalus bursa and Ixodes hexagonus. Analysis of the relative frequencies of ectoparasites as a function of the seasons showed that Rhipicephalus turanicus, Rhipicephalus bursa and Archeopsylla erinacea are summer species, unlike Ctenocephalide felis which is present only in the wet season. The analysis of relative frequencies by sex, showed the same ectoparasitic species in each sex, except Rhipicephalus bursa observed in males.