Penguins are the uncontested cutest birds worldwide. In the great colonies of the Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) in the high Antarctic it happens often that young chicks die a natural death. This provided a unique opportunity for us (Sven Klimpel and Markus W. Busch) to analyse the parasitic fauna and stomach contents of these fascinating birds. Such investigations are important because they provide information on the life of the parasites and also on the habitats and general trophic status of the penguin hosts within the Antarctic ecosystem.

The Emperor penguin colony close to the German Neumayer Station is one of approximately 35 known colonies in Antarctica. We collected 12 dead chicks for parasitological and feeding ecology examinations on board. It was found that the penguin chicks had eaten a high number of squids. The hard squid beaks look similar to those of parrots and are species-specific. They allow a scientific identification of these food items even if the soft body tissues have been entirely digested. An average of 12 stones was found in each stomach. These are helpful tools for breaking up the food, as we know is the case with gallinaceous birds. Do keep in mind that such stomach content analyses only provide information on the chicks’ food preference at the time of sampling.

Most interesting to us was the finding of one species of parasitic nematode in the stomachs. One major challenge in parasitology is to discover the pathways of the parasites from one host to another. In our case the solution is obvious. The young penguins can only acquire and accumulate these parasites through the regurgitated stomach content of the parents, because they are completely dependent on this way of nutrition. Our recent knowledge about parasitic nematodes let us conclude that they represent a hitherto undescribed (new) parasite species. Further morphometric and molecular analyses in the Institute of Zoomorphology, Cell Biology and Parasitology (Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf) will provide unequivocal identification of the parasite.

Text: Sven Klimpel; photograph: Dietmar Pietschok