The tapeworm species recorded in carnivores of Slovakian wildlife - molecular analyses

Introduction Important cestode species parasitizing carnivores are the worldwide distributed tapeworms of the family Taeniidae. Typical for taeniids is an indirect life cycle involving two obligate mammalian hosts in a predator-prey scheme, with an herbivore intermediate host and a terrestrial carnivore definitive host. The aim of the study was the molecular characterization of taeniid tapeworms from wild and domestic carnivores obtained from a national park and hunting areas from three different districts of eastern Slovakia. Methods Five tapeworm samples from canids and felids definitive were examined by sequences of regions of 463 bp and 396 bp in the cox1 gene, which were subjected to phylogenetic analysis. Results Two Taenia species were genetically confirmed from carnivores in Slovakia. The record of Taenia lynciscapreoli found in the Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ) in the Tatra National Park represents the first finding of this species in Slovakia. The four isolates obtained from canids - from the gray wolf ( Canis lupus ), golden jackal ( Canis aureus ), and domestic dog ( Canis lupus familiaris ) belonged to Taenia krabbei . These isolates were distributed at three different positions in the cluster attributed to T. krabbei , partitioned according to their different definitive hosts (wolf, dog, jackal). Conclusion Although the original and dominant definitive host of T. krabbei is the wolf, half of the T. krabbei samples were collected from non-wolf definitive hosts. The finding of T. krabbei in a single isolate from a free-ranging dog in a hunting area corroborated the potential role of this host in the life cycle of this species.