Psittacine birds (Aves: Psittaciformes) as new hosts of Baruscapillaria obsignata (Nematoda: Capillariidae)

Kajerová V. , V. Baru‰: Psittacine birds (Aves: Psittaciformes) as new hosts of Baruscapillaria obsignata (Nematoda: Capillariidae). Acta Vet. Brno 2005, 74: 571-574. The first record of Baruscapillaria obsignata (Capillariidae) in small intestine of three psittacine birds (Barnardius zonarius, Agapornis roseicollis and Melopsittacus undulatus) kept in captivity in the Czech Republic is described. Morphometry of nematode species parasitizing psittacine birds was found to be identical with that of the parasites from typical hosts, domestic and free-living columbiform birds. Epizootiological aspects of interchange of this nematode species, and others (ascariids, capillariids, oxyurids) among domestic birds (Galliformes, Columbiformes), free-living birds (Passeriformes) and psittacine birds (Psittaciformes) kept in captivity are discussed. Psittacine birds, Baruscapillaria, capillariids, Czech Republic Findings of capillariid eggs in coprological examinations of psittacine birds in captivity are relatively frequent (Kronberger 1973; Landel ius et al. 1978; Mart inez et al. 1999; Patel et al. 2000). On the contrary, the data on taxonomy and systematics of these nematodes parasitizing hosts of the order Psittaciformes are very rare. For psittacine birds, a specific capillariid is probably Capillaria plagiaticia Freitas et Mendonça, 1959, found in Brazil (Frei tas et al. 1959) and New Zealand (Wakel in 1967). Schock and Cooper (1978) mention also the oesophageal capillariid Eucoleus contortus (Crepl in , 1839) in budgerigars. According to the revision by Baru‰ and Sergeeva (1989) and Okulewicz (1993), the valid name E. dispar (Dujardin, 1845), is used here for a frequent cosmopolitan parasite in birds of the orders Passeriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes. In this paper we report the first finding of other capillariid species parasitizing psittacine birds. Materials and Methods During the years 2002-2004, 143 psittacine birds of thirty species kept in captivity in the Czech Republic were investigated post-mortem for the infestation with nematodes. In three specimens, one Barnardius zonarius (Shaw, 1805), one Agapornis roseicollis (Vieillot, 1818) and one Melopsittacus undulatus (Shaw, 1805), infestation of capillariids (15 males and 3 females specimens) was found in the small intestine. All nematodes were fixed in 4% formaldehyd and cleared in glycerine-water solution for examination. It was used a light microscope with differential interference contrast (DIC) and digital image analysis system (ProPlus 1.3 for Windows 95) for measuring. Drawings were prepared by the camera lucida. All measurements are given in millimetres.