Cebus apella (Primata: Cebidae) as a New Host for Fonsecalges johnjadini (Acari: Psoroptidae, Cebalginae) with a Description of Anatomopathological Aspects
Vol. 96(4): 479-481, May 2001
Luciana Guerim/+, Gilberto Salles Gazêta*, Nicolau Maués Serra-Freire*, Lilian Marques de Sá**, José Luis Catão Dias**
Laboratório de Parasitologia Veterinária, Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Estácio de Sá, Estrada Boca do Mato 850, 22783-320 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil *Laboratório de Ixodides, Departamento de Entomologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil **Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
Mites collected from the auditory canal of Cebus apella (capuchin monkey), family Cebidae, were identified as Fonsecalges johnjadini (Psoroptidae, Cebalginae). It is the first record of this parasite from this monkey. This paper emphasizes the importance of clinical and anatomopathological examinations for parasitic diagnosis in wild animals.
Key words: Cebus apella - Fonsecalges johnjadini - Cebalginae - Cebidae
Primates belonging to the genus Cebus are medium sized animals distributed from the north of South America to north of Argentina, inhabiting chiefly the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic rainforest in Brazil. This group of Cebidae is arboricolous and can live in any kind of neotropical rainforest (Freese & Oppenheimer 1981). Each group of these monkeys consists of 8 to 18 members (Kuhlhorn 1939 apud Freese & Oppenheimer 1981). The female is the first source of food, protection and carriage for the nestling. The young remain attached to the mother's back for up to the 6th or 7th week after birth (Nolte & Ducker 1959 apud Freese & Oppenheimer 1981) and are not wholly independent until between five and six months old (Freese & Oppenheimer 1981). Their social behaviour, therefore, allows the easy spread of mites among the group.
To date, the mite species Cebalgoides cebi, Cebalges gaudi and Saimirioptes hershkovitzi have been found on the capuchin monkey (C. apella).
The aims of this paper are to record C. apella as a new host for the mite Fonsecalges johnjadini and to emphasize the importance of a detailed clinical and anatomopathological examinations to detect these parasites.
+Corresponding author. Fax: +55-21-590.3545. E-mail: guerim@ioc.fiocruz.br
Received 8 February 2000
Accepted 27 December 2000
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