GASTROINTESTINAL HELMINTHS OF ARCTIC FOXES (ALOPEX-LAGOPUS) FROM DIFFERENT BIOCLIMATOLOGICAL REGIONS IN GREENLAND

Nine species of gastrointestinal helminths were recovered from 254 arc tic foxes (Alopex lagopus) from 8 different localities in Greenland. P revalences of infection with the helminth species differed from area t o area: Toxascaris leonina (39-68%), Strongyloides stercoralis (0-14%) , Mesocestoides lineatus (0-58%), Diphyllobothrium dendriticum (0-15%) , Taenia ovis krabbei (0-70%), Cryptocotyle sp. (0-3%), Plagiorchis el egans (0-6%), and Polymorphus sp. (0-3%). Additionally, a Taenia speci es, which appears to be different from T. ovis krabbei, had a prevalen ce of 24% but only on the east coast of Greenland. In general, the com position of the helminth fauna of arctic foxes in Greenland showed dis tinct differences geographically. Thus, the diversity of helminth spec ies in foxes caught in the northern districts of Greenland seems lower than in the southern districts; only nematode species with direct lif e cycles were represented equally in all parts of the country. The div ersity of the surrounding fauna, and thereby the food items available for the foxes, seems to determine the spectrum of helminth species. He lminths requiring rodents as intermediate hosts were absent on the wes t coast, even in the areas in northwest Greenland in close proximity t o the Canadian Archipelago. Foxes from air bases, which are known to f eed intensively on garbage, harbored similar numbers of species compar ed to foxes from settlements in the same regions. The number of T. leo nina in animals less than 1 yr of age was significantly higher than in older individuals. For M. lineatus, the prevalence of infection was f ound to increase and worm burdens to decrease with increasing host age . Infections with 2 or more helminth species were most frequent in old er animals (47% in foxes greater than or equal to 4 yr old and 33% in foxes <4 yr old).