Helminths from introduced small mammals on Kerguelen, Crozet, and Amsterdam Islands (Southern Indian ocean)

Four monoxenous nematodes and 1 heteroxenous cestode were found in 4 specie s of introduced small mammals on isolated sub-Antarctic islands of the Indi an Ocean. In the Kerguelen Archipelago, Syphacia obvelata, Passalurus ambig uus (Nematoda: Oxyuridae), and Rodentolepis straminea (Cestoda: Cyclophylli dae) were respectively found in the house mouse Mus musculus, the rabbit Or yctolagus cuniculus, and the black rat Rattus rattus. One accidental nemato de, Trichostrongylus sp. (Nematoda: Trichostrongylidae), was also found in a black rat on Kerguelen. On Possession Island (Crozet Archipelago), R. str aminea was present in the black rat. On Amsterdam Island, the brown rat R. norvegicus harbored 2 species, R. straminea and Nippostrongylus brasiliensi s (Nematoda: Heligmonellidae). The small number of founder hosts and the de pauperate terrestrial communities on these remote islands explain the low d iversity in the helminth communities of these introduced mammals compared w ith continental populations.