Gastrointestinal parasites in captive and free-ranging Cebus albifrons in the Western Amazon, Ecuador

Resumen

Currently, there is a lack of surveys that report the occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites in the white-headed capuchin monkey (<i>Cebus albifrons</i>). We therefore assessed the presence and richness (= number of different parasite genera) of parasites in <i>C. albifrons</i> in wildlife refuges (n = 11) and in a free-ranging group near a human village (n = 15) in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In the 78 samples collected (median of 3 samples per animal), we identified a total of 6 genera of gastrointestinal parasites, representing protozoa, nematodes, acanthocephalans and cestodes. We observed a high prevalence (84%) across the 26 individuals, with the most prevalent parasite being <i>Strongyloides</i> sp. (76.9%), followed by <i>Hymenolepis</i> sp. (38.5%) and <i>Prosthenorchis elegans</i> (11.5%). We found <i>Entamoeba histolytica/dispar/moskovskii/nuttalli</i> and <i>Capillaria</i> sp. in only a minority of the animals (3.8%). In addition, we observed unidentified strongyles in approximately one-third of the animals (34.6%). We found a total of 6 parasite genera for the adult age group, which showed higher parasite richness than the subadult age group (5) and the juvenile age group (3). Faecal egg/cyst counts were not significantly different between captive and free-ranging individuals or between sexes or age groups. The free-ranging group had a higher prevalence than the captive group; however, this difference was not significant. The only genus common to captive and free-ranging individuals was <i>Strongyloides</i> sp. The high prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites and the presence of <i>Strongyloides</i> in both populations support results from previous studies in <i>Cebus</i> species. This high prevalence could be related to the high degree of humidity in the region. For the free-ranging group, additional studies are required to gain insights into the differences in parasite prevalence and intensity between age and sex groups. Additionally, our study demonstrated that a serial sampling of each individual increases the test sensitivity.