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

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.