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Levels of helminth infection in the flat lizard Tropidurus semitaeniatus from north-eastern Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2015

C.H. Bezerra ,
R.W. Ávila ,
D.C. Passos ,
D. Zanchi-Silva  and
C.A.B. Galdino
C.H. Bezerra*
Affiliation:
Núcleo Regional de Ofiologia da Universidade Federal do Ceará, Centro de Ciências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil
R.W. Ávila
Affiliation:
Universidade Regional do Cariri, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Campus do Pimenta, 63105-100, Crato-CE, Brazil
D.C. Passos
Affiliation:
Núcleo Regional de Ofiologia da Universidade Federal do Ceará, Centro de Ciências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcântara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil
D. Zanchi-Silva
Affiliation:
Núcleo Regional de Ofiologia da Universidade Federal do Ceará, Centro de Ciências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici, Centro de Ciências, 60455-970, Fortaleza-CE, Brazil
C.A.B. Galdino
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia de Vertebrados, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, 30535-610, Belo Horizonte-MG, Brazil
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Parasites represent a great, unknown component of animal biodiversity. Recent efforts have begun to uncover patterns of infection by helminth parasites in several Neotropical lizards. The present study reports, for the first time, levels of helminth infection in a population of the flat lizard Tropidurus semitaeniatus. One hundred and thirty-nine lizards were examined and evidence of five intestinal helminth species was found, comprising four species of nematodes, one species of cestode and an unidentified encysted larval nematode. The most frequently occurring species was the intestinal nematode Parapharyngodon alvarengai, which did not exhibit differences in prevalence and intensity of infection relative to host sex or age/body size. Furthermore, helminth species richness was not related to host body size.

Type
Short Communications
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 90 , Issue 6 , November 2016 , pp. 779 - 783
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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