Helminths of Liophis miliaris (Squamata, Dipsadidae): a list of species and new records

Abstract

SummaryIn order to have better knowledge of the parasites of the common water snake Liophis miliaris (Linnaeus, 1758), a checklist of its helminths was produced based on a review of the literature and new records of worms identifi ed during the course of a parasitological survey combining data from stool analysis (n = 22) and necropsies (n = 8) of specimens of this snake from Muriaé, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Thirty-one helminth species (two acanthocephalans, one cestode, 11 nematodes and 17 trematodes) were so far reported in L. miliaris in the Neotropical region, already including the records in the present study of Acanthorhabdias acanthorhabdias Pereira, 1927, Paracapillaria (Ophidiocapillaria) cesarpintoi (Freitas & Lent, 1934) and Strongyloides ophidiae Pereira, 1929. Taxonomic comments on these nematode species are given, and areas of occurrence of A. acanthorhabdias and P. cesarpintoi are expanded in southeastern Brazil. In addition, factors related to parasite richness of L. miliaris, which is likely related to its aquatic habits, are discussed.

Endoparásitos De Philodryas Olfersii (Lichtenstein, 1823) en Ambientes De Restinga Del Delta Del Río Parnaiba, Nordeste De Brasil

“…It is a digestive tract helminth of snakes, being recorded for different species such as Crotalus durissus Linnaeus, 1758, Erythrolamprus miliaris Linnaeus, 1758, Macrelaps microlepidotus Gunther, 1860, and Xenodon sp. (Dias et al, 2004;Ramallo, 2005;McAllister et al, 2010;Mati et al, 2015;Tavares et al, 2017). Thus, this is the first record of K. costatus infecting P. olfersii.…”

“…Despite this diversity, endoparasites associated with Brazilian snakes have been neglected, with an increase in number of studies recently (e.g. Kuzmin et al, 2014;Mati et al, 2015;Mendoza-Roldan & Fiorillo, 2016;Borges-Nojosa et al, 2017;Carvalho et al, 2018;Emmerich et al, 2018;Matias et al, 2018). Among Dipsadidae, the genus Philodryas Wagler, 1830 is widely distributed and diverse in Brazil, with 13 species recorded (Costa & Bérnils, 2018).…”

New records of Helminths in Reptiles from five states of Brazil

“…In the past few years, many parasitological studies focusing Brazilian reptiles have been published (Araujo-Filho et al, 2014;Barreto-Lima and Anjos, 2014;Mati et al, 2015). However, 773 species of reptile species are currently recognized in Brazil (Costa and Bernils, 2015) and less than 30% were sampled for helminths.…”

“…Studies focusing helminth parasites infecting squamate reptiles in Brazil have been increased in the past few years (Bursey et al, 2007;Ávila et al, 2011;Barreto-Lima et al, 2012;Araujo-Filho et al, 2014;Mati et al, 2015). The information gathered was also compiled on extensive literature reviews, such as for helminths of lizards and amphisbaenians and Fernandes and Kohn (2014) for trematodes of reptiles.…”

First report of parasitism by Hexametra boddaertii (Nematoda: Ascaridae) in Oxyrhopus guibei (Serpentes: Colubridae)

“…Despite the diversity of parasites observed in reptiles, studies examining the helminth fauna of snakes native to the Neotropic ecozone have been relatively scarce (Mati et al, 2015). In particular, there are only a few examples of parasitism affecting snakes in Argentina (Boero and Led, 1971;Lamas and Lunaschi, 2009;Mati et al, 2015;Poumarau, 1968), and there is a limited understanding of endoparasites in wild caught snakes (Mati et al, 2015).…”