Food Habits and Helminth Parasites of Skittering Frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis) in the Lower Dir, Pakistan

Authors

  • Anwar Ullah Khan Department of Zoology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir Upper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • Mohammad Attaullah Department of Zoology, University of Malakand, Pakistan
  • Wali Khan Department of Zoology, University of Malakand, Pakistan
  • Abdul Waris Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-I-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Shah Khalid Department of Zoology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir Upper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • Abdul Baset Department of Zoology, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jzr.v2i4.2268

Abstract

A total of 30 specimens of Skittering frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis),(Anura: Dicroglossidae) were captured from seven selected localities inthe Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan from Aprilto August 2016. They were euthanized with the help of Chloroform(CHcl3) solution. The biometry of each specimen was measured, thendissected to examine for helminth parasites and foodstuff. All helminths were isolated, washed with normal saline at room temperature,and then preserved in 70% GL ethyl alcohol. Later on, the parasiteswere classified and studied under the electric compound microscope. Ina total of 30 specimens, 17(56.66%) were found infected with 62 helminths parasites belongs to four different species. Among four species,one was Cestodes Nematotaenia dispar species and remaining threewere Nematodes i.e. Cosmocerca species, Cosmocercoides (Raillietnema species) and Strongyloides species. Cosmocerca with a percentageof 56.45% was the most dominant. In the total of 30 specimens’ alimentary canal, 10 were found empty, containing nothing while in remaining20 were full of 9 types of food materials which included insects i.e.Ants, Beetles, Wasps, Spiders, Mosquito larvae and cockroaches, andnon-living things like stone pebbles and mollusks shells. Among the serial, flies and snails were in the lowest prevalence and ants were recorded the most important component of the frog diet. Among the insects,ants have occurred in higher prevalence 44.50% and flies 1.15% withthe lowest prevalence. The results emphasize the significance of furtherexpected studies in the Dir Lower to get a good understanding of thehelminth parasites with the ecological relations of their hosts.

Keywords:

Helminths parasites; Diet composition; E. cyanophlyctis; Dir Lower; Pakistan

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Vol. 2 , Iss. 4 (October 2020)

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