Assessment of the helminth fauna in northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) occurring within South Texas

Abstract

Abstract Populations of northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus; hereafter bobwhite) have been declining across their geographic range in North America, prompting consideration of the role parasites may play. We conducted this study to learn about the helminth fauna in South Texas, a region that supports a sustainable bobwhite population. Helminths were examined from 356 bobwhites collected during the 2014–2015 (n = 124) and 2015–2016 (n = 232) hunting seasons, when increasing trends in precipitation were observed in comparison with the previous two years. Ten helminth species were found, consisting of 14,127 individuals. Of these, all are heteroxenous parasites and three are pathogenic (Dispharynx nasuta, Tetrameres pattersoni and Oxyspirura petrowi). Aulonocephalus pennula numerically dominated the component community (81% prevalence, 99% of the total helminths found), whereas each of the remaining species occurred rarely (≤9% prevalence) and contributed few individuals (≤0.4%) to the helminth community. Prevalence and abundance of A. pennula were not influenced by host age, sex or body mass, but abundance was higher during the 2014–2015 than the 2015–2016 hunting season. Our findings indicate that the helminth community in bobwhites from South Texas can vary during long-term, highly variable precipitation conditions and these communities are more similar to those found in the Rolling Plains of Texas than those found in the eastern part of the bobwhite's geographic range in the US.