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Comparative ectoparasite loads of five seabird species in the Galapagos Islands

Abstract:

In this paper we describe the ectoparasitic lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) found on 5 species of seabirds (magnificent frigatebird Fregata magnificens; great frigatebird Fregata minor; Nazca booby Sula granti; blue-footed booby Sula nebouxii; and red-footed booby Sula sula) on the Galapagos Archipelago. We found 9 species of ectoparasitic lice: 5 species of Pectinopygus ischnocerans, 1 infesting each host; 2 species of Colpocephalum amblyceran lice, 1 on each frigatebird species; and 2 shared amblycerans, Eidmanniella albescens (Piaget, 1880) found on Nazca and blue-footed boobies and Fregatiella aurifasciata (Kellogg, 1899) found on the 2 frigatebirds. We tested the relative importance and interactions of host sex, body size, host, island, host family, and breeding status and found that inter-island differences were the main pbkp_redictors of prevalence and infestation intensity. These differences could be related to host density or weather, but further evidence is needed.