A new species of Oochoristica (Cyclophyllidea: Linstowiidae) from non-native Mediterranean geckos, Hemidactylus turcicus (Sauria: Gekkonidae), from Texas, USA

Abstract

A new species of cyclophyllidean tapeworm, Oochoristica harschi sp. nov. is described from 2 of 18 (11%) non-native Mediterranean geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus) collected in June 2016 from Tom Green County, Texas, USA The new species has few characteristics in common with 17 species of Oochoristica previously described from Nearctic reptiles. Of this group, O. harschi is most similar to O. macallisteri Bursey and Goldberg, 1996 from the side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana from Arizona and California, USA, in number of testes, 14-20 vs. 12-20. However, O. harschi has oval suckers and a long neck compared to the circular suckers and absent neck in O. macallisteri. On comparison with other species of Oochoristica, it was found O. chinensis Jensen, Schmidt and Kuntz, 1983 from the Sino-Japanese realm, O. iguanae Bursey and Goldberg, 1996 from the Neotropical realm, and O. maccoyi Bursey and Goldberg, 1966 from the Panamanian realm were most similar to the new species. However, O. harschi can be differentiated by possessing a much longer neck and a shorter cirrus pouch. It can be further differentiated from O. chinensis by possessing an ovoid vs. an irregular vitellarium, from O. iguanae by having a smaller strobilus (65 vs. 110 mm) as well as an ovoid vs. a triangular vitellarium, and from O. maccoyi by having significantly more proglottids (145 vs. 89) and a longer strobilus (65 vs. 20 mm). The new species is the fifth species of Oochoristica reported from non-native H. turcicus and the 18th species described from the Nearctic region.

Gastrointestinal helminths of lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) from Egypt

“…Oochoristica mutabili is considered a heteroxenous cestode that requires a suitable intermediate host [39] . The species of Oochoristica are cosmopolitan infecting more than 56 species of reptilian hosts, occasionally in mammals, and rare in amphibians [40][41][42][43] . Genus Oochoristica includes about 88 species, only O. mutabili, O. truncata, and O. fibrata were previously recorded in Egypt [9,41,44] .…”

Parasites in Spanish populations of <em>Psammodromus algirus</em> (Algerian sand lizard, lagartija colilarga) and <em>Psammodromus occidentalis</em> (Western sand lizard, lagarto de arena occidental) (Squamata, Lacertidae, Gallotiinae)

“…Snout-vent length (SVL in mm) of lizard specimens were recorded after several years of storage in 70% ethanol. Helminth identification was facilitated by utilizing descriptions and illustrations in Anderson et al (2009) for genera, and Bursey Goldberg (2015), Lhermitte et al (2008), and Morgan (1945) for species; cestode identification was confirmed following Rausch (1994), McAllister Bursey (2017), andMcAllister et al (2013); Estrada-PeÑa et al (2014 were consulted for tick identification. Identification guides generally illustrate only male Sk rjabinelazia and we found only females in our samples; those females, however, most closely resembled illustrations of S. taurica.…”

Helminth fauna of Valentin’s Lizard Darevskia valentini (Boettger, 1892) (Squamata: Lacertidae) collected from central and eastern Anatolia, Turkey

“…It comprises cestodes parasitizing reptiles and is cosmopolitan in its distribution. Within this group, which includes about 88 species (Bursey et al, 2010) and more species have been added recently (Mašová et al, 2010; Schuster, 2011; Bursey & Goldberg, 2011; Mašová et al, 2012; McAllister & Bursey, 2017) about 17 species are known from Palearctic. Oochoristica tuberculata (Rudolphi, 1819) was chosen as type species.…”