Host-parasite interactions of tropical bats in Puerto Rico

Despite having nearly one thousand known extant species in the order of Chiroptera (Wilson and Reeder, 2005), bats remain little studied in terms of the parasites and pathogens they harbor, particularly those from tropical regions. This lack of documentation of the parasite fauna of bats is of some concern since tropical bats have been implicated in the emergence of several important zoonotic infections, such as Nipah and Hendra virus as well as a possible sylvatic reservoir for Ebola (Calisher et al., 2006). As a consequence, recent studies have focused on documenting microparasitic infections of bats, while at times overlooking the macroparasitic infections (but see Gannon and Willig, 1995). Macroparasites are a group of parasites which typically live in or on the host body and include ectoparasites and intestinal helminths. This group of macroparasites has been shown to be important in regulating host populations and may interact with other parasites within the host to alter pathogen dynamics (Christensen et al., 1987; Bentwich et al., 1999, 2000; Cox, 2001). As such, an investigation into the macroparasitic fauna of bats is undeniably important. We provide here a documentation of the macro parasitic infections of three different species of tropical bat from Puerto Rico. The bats species studied include Mormoops blainvillei (Antillean ghost faced bat), Pteronotus quadridens (sooty mustach ed bat), and Monophyllus redmani (Greater An tillean long tongued bat). Puerto Rico is the smallest and most eastern of the Greater Antillean islands. As such it stands as an island fulcrum between the Greater and Lesser Antilles and contains flora and fauna of both. The bat fauna and distribution on the island have been previously well documented (Gan non et al., 2005). We investigated which host characteristics may be associated with macroparasitic infection. For example, increasing body mass has been associated with increasing parasite intensity (Arneberg et al., Acta Chiropterologica, 11(1): 157–162, 2009 PL ISSN 1508-1109 © Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS doi: 10.3161/150811009X465776