Taxonomy and ecology of coccidium in wild birds from Ilha da Marambaia: identification of new species, genotypes, hosts, localities and pseudoparasitism
oocyst, prevalence and density, morphology, sequencing, Isospora, Eimeria
The Atlantic Forest is one of the world's priority biomes to be restored, approximately 70% of the Brazilian population depends on the ecosystem services of this biome, however, it is in a high degree of threat and risk. In these remaining areas of Atlantic Forest, some fragments of areas stand out, which keep the habitats and ecological niche of the species preserved. Marambaia Island is located on the coast of Costa Verde, south of the State of Rio de Janeiro. In this context, the importance of knowing the ecology of wild birds arises, which are extremely important in the conservation of Marambaia Island. Free-ranging birds coexist with numerous parasites, under normal immune conditions they do not compromise their health. Even so, a high number of parasites of wild birds have not yet been taxonomically described. Coccidia form a diverse and complex group, belong to the infraphylum Apicomplexa, are intracellular parasitic life beings. The order Passeriformes is parasitized mainly by coccidia of the genera Isospora and Eimeria, belonging to the family Eimeriidae. Traditionally, the structure of the sporulated oocyst, in particular the number of sporocysts and sporozoites, is used as a main feature to differentiate genera of coccidia. Monitoring the prevalence and density of coccidia in wild birds can serve as a bi-marker of environmental impact. The present study aims to identify (morphologically and molecularly) and quantify parasitic coccidia of wild birds of different species, families and localities within and around the Marambaia Island. In this sense, this qualification manuscript presents a review of the scientific literature on the topics of ecology and taxonomy of coccidia of wild birds, and in chapters I, II and III, the preliminary results of the present study. Chapter I contains preliminary data on the identification, density and distribution of coccidia from wild birds captured in and around the Marambaia Island. Chapters II and II correspond respectively to two articles published in scientific journals: Parasitology Research (v. 121, p. 1059-1063, 2022); and Zootaxa (v. 5168, p. 83-91, 2022). A final chapter (chapter IV), which is still under development, will appear in the final manuscript of the thesis and will deal with a new species of coccidia identified in a morphological and molecular way.