Diversity of the infracommunities of strongylid nematodes in the ventral colon of Equus caballus from Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

Nematodes from the ventral colon of 31 adult horses, 24 males and 9 females, in the metropolitan region of the state of Rio de Janeiro were analysed. There were 53,444 (86.4%) adults of the total recovered strongylid nematodes. They belonged to 21 species of Cyathostominae and seven of Strongylinae. Larval forms made up 13.6% (8407) of the total recovered, and 49% of the strongylid nematodes were observed in ventral colon. The most prevalent and abundant species were Cyathostomum tetracanthum, Cylicocyclus nassatus, Cylicostephanus minutus, Cylicostephanus longibursatus, Cylicostephanus leptostomus, Cylicostephanus calicatus and Cylicostephanus goldi, corresponding to 93.2% of the total adult population; these species were classified as central species, except C. goldi; and other species were classified as secondary (n = 8) and satellite (n = 14). The low Green's aggregation index, presented to central species, indicated high dispersion because they were found in a greater number of infracommunities and were proven by the greater prevalence. Only 12.1% of the horses were uninfected or infected by a single species; the other infections were multiple, ranging from 3 to 23 species.