Data regarding helminth communities can provide insights into health, feeding interactions, behaviour and evolution of their host organisms. Penguins (Spheniscidae) are important components of marine food webs and tracking their helminth communities can be indicative of ecosystem health. New Zealand is home to 5 of the world's 19 penguin species and little is known about their gastrointestinal helminths. Here, we provide the first study on the gastrointestinal helminths of little blue penguins from south-eastern South Island, New Zealand. The helminth community consisted of two species of tapeworm; Tetrabothrius lutzi and Tetrabothrius sp.; three nematode species, Contracaecum eudyptulae, Capillaria sp. and Stegophorus macronectes; two acanthocephalans, Andracantha sigma and Bolbosoma balaenae; and one trematode, Galactosomum otepotiense. The most prevalent parasites were T. lutzi, A. sigma, and C. eudyptulae. This work includes three new host records and five new geographic records. This is the first report of B. balaenae occurring in a host other than a marine mammal. This study adds to our knowledge about the helminth community of New Zealand little blue penguins, and includes new genetic data on helminth species, providing a baseline against which future studies may be compared.

有关蠕虫群落的数据可以提供有关其宿主生物健康，饲养相互作用，行为和进化的见解。企鹅（Spheniscidae）是海洋食物网的重要组成部分，跟踪它们的蠕虫群落可以指示生态系统的健康。新西兰是世界19种企鹅中5种的家，对它们的胃肠蠕虫知之甚少。在这里，我们提供了对来自新西兰南岛东南部的小蓝企鹅的胃肠蠕虫的首次研究。蠕虫群落由两种of虫组成。Tetrabothrius lutzi和Tetrabothrius sp .; 三种线虫，Contracaecum eudyptulae，Capillaria sp。和剑角象; 两种棘头动物，Andracantha sigma和Bolbosoma balaenae；还有一个吸虫，半乳糖半乳杆菌。最普遍的寄生虫是鲁氏梭状芽孢杆菌，西格玛线虫和杜仲梭状芽胞杆菌。这项工作包括三个新的主机记录和五个新的地理记录。这是B. balaenae发生在除海洋哺乳动物以外的宿主中的首次报道。这项研究增加了我们对新西兰蠕虫群落的了解，其中包括小蓝企鹅，并且包括有关蠕虫物种的新遗传数据，为将来的研究提供了基准。