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Gastrointestinal helminths of lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) from Egypt

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Last updated: 22 Jan 2023

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Abstract

Background: Despite the fact that Egypt contains a large number of lizard species, yet there is little knowledge recorded regarding the helminth fauna infecting this group of hosts. A parasitological study on gastrointestinal helminths of lizards was carried out during Summer (August) and Autumn (September and October), 2014 and 2015, respectively. Objective: This study aims to update information on helminth parasites that infect lizards in Egypt. Material and Methods: Seven species of lizards, Pseudotrapelus sinaitus Heyden, 1827; Trapelus mutabilis Merrem, 1820 (Agamidae); Tarentola mauritanica mauritanica Linnaeus, 1758 (Phyllodactylidae); Tropiocolotes tripolitanus Peters, 1880 (Gekkonidae); Acanthodactylus boskianus Daudin, 1802 (Lacertidae); Chamaeleo africanus Laurenti, 1768 (Chamaeleonidae); and Varanus niloticus Linnaeus, 1766 (Varanidae), were collected from several parts of Egypt. These hosts were dissected and examined for gastrointestinal helminth. The collected helminths were fixed in 70% ethanol, stained with carmine and examined by using an Olympus CX31 microscope and a Zeiss Stemi 2000-C microscope. Results: The total prevalence of infection with helminths was 35.9%. The study recorded 16 species of helminths recognised as: six species of digenea [Prosthodendrium obtusum (Looss, 1896) Bhalerao, 1936, Pleurogenoides tener (Olsson, 1876) Travassos, 1921, Anchitrema sanguineum (Sonsino, 1894) Looss, 1899, Cyclorchis varani Price, 1936, Mesostephanus milvi Yamaguti, 1939 and Haplorchis pumilio (Looss, 1896) Looss, 1899], four species of cestodes [three adults, Oochostrica mutabili Morsyet al., 2013, Duthiersia fimbriata Diesing, 1854 and one unidentified cestode and one tetrathyridia of Mesocestoides spp.] and six species of nematodes [Parapharyngodon micipsae Seurat, 1917, Pharyngodon inermicauda Baylis, 1923, Abbreviata leptosome Gervais, 1848, Thubunaea pudica Seurat, 1914, Tanqua tiara (von Linstow, 1879) Blanchard, 1904 and Spinicauda sonsinoi (Linstow, 1894) Travassos, 1920]. Conclusion: This study documents 10 new host and 10 new locality records in Egypt and distinguishes between studied material and reported descriptions. These findings add significantly to the present information on helminths infecting lizards in Egypt.

DOI

10.21608/puj.2019.13809.1048

Keywords

Cestode, Digenea, Egypt, helminths, lizards, Nematode

Authors

First Name

Rasha

Last Name

Elmahy

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Affiliation

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta 31527-Egypt

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Orcid

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First Name

Samar

Last Name

Harras

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Affiliation

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta 31527-Egypt

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Volume

12

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

7111

Issue Date

2019-08-01

Receive Date

2019-06-18

Publish Date

2019-08-01

Page Start

139

Page End

146

Print ISSN

1687-7942

Online ISSN

2090-2646

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https://puj.journals.ekb.eg/article_45927.html

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https://puj.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=45927

Order

8

Type

Original Article

Type Code

426

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Parasitologists United Journal

Publication Link

https://puj.journals.ekb.eg/

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Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023