Helminths From Introduced Small Mammals on Kerguelen, Crozet, and Amsterdam Islands (Southern Indian Ocean)

Four monoxenous nematodes and 1 heteroxenous cestode were found in 4 species of introduced small mammals on isolated sub-Antarctic islands of the Indian Ocean. In the Kerguelen Archipelago, Syphacia obvelata, Passalurus ambiguus (Nematoda: Oxyuridae), and Rodentolepis straminea (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidae) were respectively found in the house mouse Mus musculus, the rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus, and the black rat Rattus rattus. One accidental nematode, Trichostrongylus sp. (Nematoda: Trichostrongylidae), was also found in a black rat on Kerguelen. On Possession Island (Crozet Archipelago), R. straminea was present in the black rat. On Amsterdam Island, the brown rat R. norvegicus harbored 2 species, R. straminea and Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Nematoda: Heligmonellidae). The small number of founder hosts and the depauperate terrestrial communities on these remote islands explain the low diversity in the helminth communities of these introduced mammals compared with continental populations.