New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts

---

Helminth and protozoan parasites of the alimentary tract of the yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes)

ANDREW RANUM
DAVID A. WHARTON*

Department of Zoology
University of Otago
P.O. Box 56
Dunedin, New Zealand
*Corresponding author.

Abstract  Faecal samples from yellow-eyed penguins, Megadyptes antipodes, were collected at Boulder Beach, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand, between July and September 1993, and examined for helminth eggs and protozoa. Infestation levels were generally low. Ascaridoid nematode eggs were present, as were coccidial oocysts of the genus Eimeria. The alimentary tracts of yellow-eyed penguin chicks and one juvenile were examined for helminths. 95% of the penguins were infested with nematodes, but infestation levels were low, and only 12% of the nematodes recovered were adult. Almost all nematodes recovered were ascaridoids, and those that could be identified belonged to the genus Contracaecum. Acanthocephalans were recovered from two birds. Yellow-eyed penguins, in this study, had low burdens of gut parasites, suggesting that the parasites do not threaten the survival of the penguins.

Keywords  yellow-eyed penguin; Megadyptes antipodes; nematode; Contracaecum; coccidial protozoa; Eimeria; Acanthocephala

Received 6 December 1994; accepted 8 August 1995

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (388K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

---

This year's abstracts | Journal home page | All abstracts | Publishing home page