Thirty stray dogs Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758 were collected in San Juan de Lurigancho, Lima, Peru, between January and March 1997 and necropsied for helminths. Three species were collected: the cestodes Dipylidium caninum (Linnaeus, 1758) Railliet, 1892 and Taenia pisiformis (Bloch, 1780) and the nematode Toxocara canis (Werner, 1782) Stiles, 1905. Fifty per cent of the examined dogs showed one or two parasites. A total of 303 (0-116) helminths were recovered and the intensity of infection was 30,3. The Simpson index (C) for all parasite species was 0,414, indicating a dominance by one species in the parasite community. The mean diversity in the infracommunities of C. familiaris was H' = 0,038 and uniformity index of Pielou J = 0,207. Dipylidium caninum, T. pisiformis, and T. canis presented a prevalence of infection of 33,30%, 10% and 16,6% respectively. Dipylidium caninum presented the highest frequency and mean intensity of infection. Dipylidium caninum was the helminth with the highest dominance (94%) whereas the lowest was due to T. pisiformis (4%) and T. canis (2%). Helminths were not related to the age of the hosts, prevalence and mean intensity of infection. Out of the 10 equally divided segments of the intestinal gut, D. caninum was found from the 6th to the 9th segment. T canis preferred almost exclusively the 1st segment while T. pisiformis was randomly distributed.
Canis familiaris; Dipylidium caninum; Toxocara canis; Taenia pisiformis; perros; Peru