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Presence of the Chytrid Fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Populations of the Critically Endangered Frog Mannophryne olmonae in Tobago, West Indies

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Abstract

The emerging infectious disease chytridiomycosis is prevalent in Central and South America, and has caused catastrophic declines of amphibian populations in the Neotropics. The responsible organism, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, has been recorded on three West Indian islands, but the whole of the Caribbean region is predicted to offer a suitable environment for the disease. Monitoring the spread of chytridiomycosis is thus a priority in this region, which has exceptionally high levels of amphibian endemism. PCR analysis of 124 amphibian skin swabs in Tobago (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago) demonstrated the presence of B. dendrobatidis in three widely separated populations of the frog Mannophryne olmonae, which is listed as Critically Endangered on the basis of recent population declines. Chytridiomycosis is presently endemic in this species, with a prevalence of about 20% and no associated clinical disease. Increased susceptibility to chytridiomycosis from climate change is unlikely in amphibian populations in Tobago, as this island does not have high montane environments, but remains a possibility in the sister island of Trinidad. Preventing the spread of chytridiomycosis within and between these and other Caribbean islands should be a major goal of practical conservation measures for amphibians in the region.

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Acknowledgments

Fieldwork was supported by a 2006 Future Conservationist Award from the bp Conservation Programme (Mannophryne olmonae: An Ecological Study in Tobago—Project L.E.A.P.), and a seed grant from the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force (health monitoring in amphibian populations in Trinidad and Tobago). Analysis of DNA samples was funded by a seed grant from Conservation International. We thank Dave Hardy for information on locations of M. olmonae, John E. Cooper, Jodi Rowley, and Robin Moore for discussion of chytridiomycosis, and Gian Lalsingh and Pat Turpin of Environment Tobago for accommodation and logistical help. Handling frogs was under permit from the Wildlife Section of the Forestry Division of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Tobago House of Assembly, courtesy of Nadra Nathai-Gyan and Angela Ramsey, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Project L.E.A.P., c/o Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Jahson B. Alemu I, Michelle N. E. Cazabon, Lena Dempewolf, Ryan P. Mannette, Kerrie T. Naranjit & Alicia C. J. Roach

  2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK

    Jahson B. Alemu I

  3. Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Adrian Hailey

  4. Department of Biology, The College of Wooster, 931 College Mall, Wooster, OH, 44691, USA

    Richard M. Lehtinen

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  1. Jahson B. Alemu I
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Correspondence to Jahson B. Alemu I.

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Alemu I, J.B., Cazabon, M.N.E., Dempewolf, L. et al. Presence of the Chytrid Fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Populations of the Critically Endangered Frog Mannophryne olmonae in Tobago, West Indies. EcoHealth 5, 34–39 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-008-0154-4

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