Herpetology Notes, volume 15: 653-655 (2022) (published online on 27 September 2022)
Oophaga anchicayensis (Anura: Dendrobatidae) as a
novel host for ticks
Amadeus Plewnia1,* and Philipp Böning1
Ectoparasites, such as ixodid ticks (Acari: Ixodidae)
play an important role as vectors of pathogens including
viruses, bacteria, and protozoans, posing a fundamental
threat to humans and other animals (Guglielmone et al.,
2003; Bartíková et al., 2017; Nava et al., 2017). Among
ticks, members of Ixodidae, known also as hard ticks,
are ectoparasites, feeding on blood of their hosts. With
more than 700 species they are the most diverse tick
family, occurring on every continent except Antarctica
(Nava et al., 2009; Bartíková et al., 2017; Beati and
Klompen, 2019). Thus, hunting strategies (endophilic
versus exophilic), vagility, as well as host and habitat
specialization vary considerably between species (Beati
and Klompen, 2019). However, only a few tick species
are known as parasites of herpetofauna, while most tick
species parasitize endotherm vertebrates (Guglielmone
and Nava, 2010; Beati and Klompen, 2019).
Few soft ticks (Argasidae) have been found
on herpetofauna, mainly members of the genus
Ornithodoros (Muñoz-Leal et al., 2017). Among hard
ticks, six tick species of the genus Amblyomma Koch,
1844 (Ixodidae) are commonly associated with the
herpetofauna in the Neotropics to date. Thereof, two
are commonly reported from anurans (Guglielmone
and Nava, 2010; Oda et al., 2018): A. dissimile and A.
rotundatum. Both species infest a wide range of reptile
species, but are only known to be found in Bufonidae
and Leptodactylidae (Guglielmone and Nava, 2010;
Oda et al., 2018). The anuran host range of A. dissimile
is even more restricted and it occurs exclusively on the
toad genera Rhinella Fitzinger, 1826 and Peltophryne
Fitzinger, 1843 (Guglielmone and Nava, 2010).
However, studies on host specificity in Neotropical ticks
found conflicting results and focus on adult life stages,
whereas larvae and nymphs are still poorly studied
1
Department of Biogeography, Trier University,
Universitätsring 15, Trier 54296, Germany.
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: amadeus.plewnia@t-online.de
© 2022 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
(Nava and Guglielmone, 2013; Esser et al., 2016). We
here provide the first record of parasitism by a nymph of
an unidentified ixodid tick on the poison frog Oophaga
anchicayensis Posso-Terranova and Andrés, 2018.
Several adult O. anchicayensis were observed on 16
August 2019 in a small forest fragment near the village
of El Naranjo in the Departamento Valle del Cauca,
Colombia (exact locality not provided due to the high
risk of poaching of colorful Dendrobatids). While
photographing the specimens, the nymph of a tick was
found on the upper part of finger 1 on the right hand of
one individual (Fig. 1A, B). As no collection permits
were available, we identified the parasite solely by
examining morphological characters with a magnifying
glass (10X) in the field. For species identification, we
considered the keys and descriptions of Keirans and
Durden (1998); Martins et al. (2010); Martins et al.
(2014) and Guglielmone et al. (2021). However, exact
identification beyond the family level was therefore
not possible in the field, especially when dealing
with the poorly known larval stages of neotropical
ticks (Martins et al., 2010). The herein documented
specimen can be restricted to Ixodidae but does not
allow a closer identification. As mentioned above,
ixodid ticks of the genus Amblyomma commonly infest
anurans in the Neotropics (Guglielmone et al., 2021).
This field observation represents a host expansion to
Dendrobatidae for ixodid ticks in general.
This is a remarkable and novel host-parasite relation
because the chemical defenses of frogs in the genus
Oophaga Bauer, 1994 apparently did not prevent
infestation. These frogs are known to contain a
complex mixture of highly potent alkaloids such as
histrionicotoxins in their granular glands that are derived
from dietary sources (Saporito et al., 2012; Posso-
Terranova and Andrés, 2020). According to Toledo and
Jared (1995), granular glands occur in lower densitites
than mucous glands in anuran skin and gland distribution
is environment-dependent. Additionally, granular glands
can accumulate forming macroglands (e.g., parotids in
bufonids; Jared and Toledo, 1995; Duellman and Trueb,
654
Figure 1. Parasitism by a nymph of an unidentified ixodid tick on the poison frog Oophaga anchicayensis. (A) Live specimen of
O. anchicayensis with the tick nymph indicated by the red arrow. (B) Detailed view of the tick nymph. Photo by Amadeus Plewnia.
1996; Mailho-Fontana et al., 2017), implying that other
body parts exhibit lower densities of these skin glands.
Combining this information with our findings, we
postulate that ticks approach and infest anurans at body
parts where granular glands occur in low densities. The
observations of Köhler (2011); Oda et al. (2018) and
Nossa et al. (2019) support this. The provided photos
show infestation of ticks on bufonids either on front or
hind limbs, or in the flank or throat regions. However,
further studies on gland distribution in amphibians as
well as host-ectoparasite interactions – especially with
hosts that possess passive chemical defenses – are
needed to verify our suggestion. The current assessment
of Oophaga anchicayensis lists it as Endangered by
the IUCN Red List (IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist
Group, 2019). The population near El Naranjo is facing
imminent threats due to the massive anthropogenic
modifications in the area, particularly deforestation
and the use of agrochemicals (IUCN SSC Amphibian
Specialist Group, 2019; pers. obs.). Although densities
appear to be high with more than 30 frogs found within
one hour, the population is restricted to several highly
fragmented patches of shrubland and small forest
remnants with high densities of terrestrial and epiphytic
bromeliads. Furthermore, amphibians are globally
threatened by pathogens such as Emerging Infectious
Diseases (Wake and Vredenburg, 2008; Scheele et
al., 2019). Among ectoparasites, ticks are associated
with the highest diversity of pathogens (Pfäffle et al.,
2013). Members of the genus Amblyomma specialized
Amadeus Plewnia & Philipp Böning
on ectothermic hosts are known vectors for different
bacteria of the genus Rickettsia and several viruses
(Miranda et al., 2012; Luz et al., 2018; Sameroff et al.,
2021). Quantifying the risk of pathogen transmission
for amphibians with arthropods as vectors remains
widely unknown and needs further studies far beyond
anecdotal observations.
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Accepted by Fabrício Hiroiuki Oda