2011 Volume 16 Issue 2 Pages 121-126
Sixty-two lesser Japanese moles (Mogera imaizumii) were captured on the Shonan Campus of Nihon University in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, from May 2002 to April 2004, and their gastrointestinal helminth fauna was surveyed. One species of cestodes, Hymenolepis mogerae, and 4 species of nematodes, Ascarops mogera, Protospirura pseudomuris, Parastrongyloides winchesi and Tricholinstowia talpae, were obtained. This is the first report on the helminth fauna of moles in Kanto District. Parasitism by 2 dominant nematode species, A. mogera and T. talpae showed intensive overdispersion with negative binomial distribution pattern. The factors, which affected the positive-negative infection status and abundance of the 2 dominant species were detected using a generalized linear model. In A. mogera, the main effect of host maturity was significant for the positive-negative infection status, whereas the main effect of host age and an interactive effect of host age and body weight were significant for the abundance in each optimal model. In T. talpae, the main effect of season of capture was only significant for both the positive-negative infection status and the abundance in each optimal model. These results were explained with some ecological features of the host animals, such as solitary habit and use of latrines, and the life cycle characteristics of helminths, such as use of intermediate hosts.
