ABSTRACT
The objective of this research was to taxonomically identify the diversity of fungi found in anurans through dermal swabs. The work was carried out in the District of Antón, province of Coclé, Panama. In the first instance, sampling was carried out in forested areas of the Anton Valley, for this three study sites were selected: Cerro Gaital Natural Monument (CG), Hotel Campestre Wooded Area (HC) and Antón Valley Amphibian Conservation Center (CC). By swabbing technique, the ventral part (anterior and posterior extremities) of the anuda was sampled, obtaining a total of 150 samples, which were taken to the Microbiology Laboratory of the Regional University Center of Coclé. The samples were seeded in Potato Dextrose Agar with the addition of Penicillin (0.1g/ml) and incubated at room temperature (28-32°C). The morphotypes obtained were classified according to the keys of Moller et al., (1995). The results show that the percentage of specimens captured by sampling techniques in the two free-living sites (CG and HC) show a significant difference (?2²= 7.76; p=0.02) with respect to the Conservation Center, with Dendrobatidae and Strabomantidae being the most important families. The Hutchinson T test applied to the morphotypes of the three sites indicates differences in the diversity of the sites. CG (H ?= 1.633 ± 0.010), CC (H ?= 1.303 ± 0.009), with the former being the one with the greatest diversity (t= 2.28, g.l.= 178.35, p= 0.02). Differences were also recorded in the diversity of CH (H ?= 1.663 ± 0.0154) and WC (H ?= 1.303 ± 0.0086), where CH presents greater diversity (t = -2.01, g.l. = 83.36, p = 0.04). No differences in diversity were found between GC sites (t= 0.016, g.l.= 91.45, p=0.98). The species Aspergillus flavus was the only one present at all three sites.
