Host-ectoparasite specificity in a small mammal community in an area of Atlantic Rain Forest (Ilha Grande, State of Rio de Janeiro), Southeastern Brazil

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bittencourt,Emerson Brum
Publication Date: 2003
Other Authors: Rocha,Carlos Frederico Duarte
Format: Article
Language: eng
Source: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Download full: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762003000600015
Summary: The analyses of the ectoparasite species associated with a small mammal community on Ilha Grande, a coastal island in southern of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, evaluated the level of host-ectoparasite specificity. Was used the Jaccard index for qualitative data to analyse the similarity. The lowest value of similarity occurred between Proechimys iheringi and Marmosops incanus and between Sciurus aestuans and Nectomys squamipes (Cj = 0.08) and the highest between P. iheringi and Oxymycterus sp. (Cj = 0.33). This index showed a low value of similarity across the ectoparasite community. The only exception from this pattern of high host specificity occurred with P. iheringi and Oxymycterus sp., which shared five species of ectoparasites. The similarity values, for most of the cases, is smaller than 0.2.