Acta Parasitologica, Vol. 50, No. 2, 2005, 161-167 Alexis Ribas* and Joan C. Casanova - Helminths of Talpa europaea (Insectivora, Talpidae)
in southwestern Europe
Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Avda Diagonal s/n 08028, Barcelona, Spain
*Corresponding author: aribas@ub.edu
ABSTRACT
The helminth fauna of the European mole (Talpa europaea L., 1758) was studied on the basis of 269 host individuals from 39
localities in France and Spain. Twelve helminth species were recorded: two digeneans - Ityogonimus lorum (Dujardin, 1845)
(Brachylaimidae) and Nephrotrema truncatum (Leuckart, 1842) (Troglotrematidae); one cestode - Multitesticulata filamentosa
(Goeze, 1782) (Dilepididae); and 9 nematodes - Capillaria talpae (Siebold, 1850), Eucoleus oesophagicola Soltys, 1952,
Liniscus incrassatus (Diesing, 1851), Trichuris feliui Ribas et Casanova, 2004 (Trichuridae), Parastrongyloides winchesi
Morgan, 1928 (Strongyloididae), Porrocaecum spp. larvae (Ascarididae), Spirura talpae (Gmelin, 1790) (Spiruridae),
Tricholinstowia linstowi (Travassos, 1918) and T. mornanti Durette-Desset et Vaucher, 1974 (Heligmonellidae). In the general
helminth fauna, S. talpae was found the most prevalent species (43.9%) and with the highest infection intensity. Prevalences
of I. lorum, L. incrassatus, Porrocaecum spp. and T. mornanti ranged from 9.7 to 17.5% and mean intensities between 1.4 and
2.3. L. capillaris, Porrocaecum spp., S. talpae and T. mornanti are core species in the helminth community of T. europaea.
The rest of species are considered satellite. All the species found in males are present in females except E. oesophagicola. No
significant differences were found between males and females in quantitative parameters. Values of Lefkovitch's index indicate
a negative binomial distribution for all species. Correlation between altitude of the biotopes and species richness was not significant.
Qualitative and quantitative data were compared with other known helminthological studies of Talpa spp. in Europe.
KEY WORDS: Talpa europaea, southwestern Europe, helminths