Intestinal helminth parasites of two bat species of the Genus Myotis Kaup, 1829 (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Turkey, with DNA sequencing of helminth nuclear LSR rDNA

Abstract

Three individuals of Myotis alcathoe von Helversen & Heller, 2001 (males) and twenty three individuals of Myotis daubentonii (Kuhl, 1817) (three females and twenty males) from Bursa Province, Turkey, were examined for helminth parasites. Myotis alcathoe was found to harbour four species of digeneans: Prosthodendrium ascidia, Lecithodendrium linstowi, Plagiorchis koreanus and Plagiorchis elegans. Myotis daubentonii was found to harbour eight species of digeneans: Prosthodendrium chilostomum, Prosthodendrium longiforme, Prosthodendrium hurkovae, Lecithodendrium linstowi, Plagiorchis koreanus, Plagiorchis muelleri, Plagiorchis elegans and Plagiorchis vespertilionis, as well as two species of nematodes: Capillaria moraveci and Molinostrongylus skrjabini. All these species were identified using both morphological and molecular methods, obtaining consistent results. To our knowledge, this is the first helminthological examination of Myotis alcathoe and four new host and geographical records are reported. New host and geographical records for five species of helminths are reported for Myotis daubentonii. The 28s rDNA partial sequences of two helminth species (Prosthodendrium ascidia and Molinostrongylus skrjabini) are new records for GenBank.