Ectoparasite abundance and pathogen prevalence of the San Clemente Island fox (Urocyon littoralis clementae).

Abstract

The San Clemente Island fox (Urocyon littoralis clementae) is classified as a focal species for conservation management by the US Navy. They are considered vulnerable to a variety of vector-borne diseases due to their relatively high population density and low genetic diversity. During the dry (July-November) and wet (December-February) seasons of 2017-2018 we live-trapped 95 foxes and collected ectoparasites to test for the presence of pathogens. We found a significant difference in ectoparasite abundance on foxes between seasons, but no differences associated with sex or age. We found that foxes carried two species of flea (Echidnophaga gallinacea and Orchopeas howardi) and two tick species (Ixodes pacificus and Ixodes jellisoni). No evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, or Borrelia miyamotoi bacteria were found. This paper is the first account of ectoparasite species identification, quantification, and pathogen testing for the San Clemente Island fox subspecies.