Tick infestation on caimans: a casual tick-host association in the Atlantic rainforest biome?

Ticks are parasites of birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles, but information about tick communities that parasitize reptiles in the Neotropical region is still fragmentary. In the present study, we assessed the presence of ticks on broad-snouted caimans (Caiman latirostris) and Cuvier’s dwarf caimans (Paleosuchus palpebrosus) trapped in the Atlantic rainforest biome in Pernambuco state, north-eastern Brazil, to determine which tick species feed on these animals and how frequent or rare this parasite-wildlife association is. We also report an occasional finding of Amblyomma rotundatum on a smooth-fronted caiman (Paleosuchus trigonatus) in the Amazon biome in Para state, northern Brazil. Out of 490 animals trapped in the Atlantic rainforest biome, four (0.82%) broad-snouted caimans were infested by ticks. Ticks belonged to two Amblyomma species: A. rotundatum (three females) and A. fuscum (one male). Our findings indicate that ticks are infrequent parasites of caimans in the Atlantic rainforest biome. Tick infestation on broad-snouted caimans is probably of minor clinical significance and probably a casual finding due to habitat sharing with the common tick hosts.