Life cycle of Hepatozoon affluomaloti sp. n. (Apicomplexa: Haemogregarinidae) in crag lizards (Sauria: Cordylidae) and in culicine mosquitoes from South Africa

Abstract

Abstract:A new haemogregarine species Hepatozoon affluomaloti sp. n. is described from erythrocytes in the peripheral blood of crag lizards Pseudocordylus melanotus (Smith) and Pseudocordylus subviridis (Smith) (Sauria: Cordylidae) from mountainous regions in the Eastern Free State, South Africa. This species can be distinguished from all other congeners based on its large size, staining properties and life cycle development in its vector, Culex (Afroculex) lineata (Theobald) (Diptera: Culicidae). Mature gamonts stain mostly uniformly pinkish-purple with Giemsa, sometimes containing darker azurophilic granules anterior and posterior to the nucleus. The reflexed posterior extremity of the gamont stage sometimes stains slightly deeper purple and the nucleus is dense and placed in the posterior third of the parasite body. Merogonic stages of this haemogregarine occur in the liver tissues of P. melanotus with dizoic meronts. Macromeronts contains 2-7 macromerozoites and micromeronts contains 9-24 micromerozoites. Sporogonic developmental stages found in the proposed final host and vector, C. lineata, include large oocysts, measuring 54 × 48 µm on average. Sporulating oocysts with 8 nuclei are present in mosquitoes 6-7 days post-feeding on infected lizards. Sporocysts with mature sporozoites measure 31.0 × 21.8 µm on average and each contains 2-8 large sporozoites. It is suggested that transmission of infective sporozoites is achieved through predation of lizards on mosquitoes.

A new lizard malaria parasite Plasmodium intabazwe n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Haemospororida: Plasmodiidae) in the Afromontane Pseudocordylus melanotus (Sauria: Cordylidae) with a review of African saurian malaria parasites

“…Co-infections between the Plasmodium species and Hepatozoon species (of which there appeared to be possibly two species) were found in 27/77 (35 %) of the total lizards sampled. One of these Hepatozoon species was recently described as Hepatozoon affluomaloti Van As, Davies & Smit 2015, occurring in 14/77 (18 %) of the lizards [ 19 ].…”

Two Coccidian Parasites and An Unusual Intraerythrocytic Cytoplasmic Vacuolar Inclusion from Agamid Lizard, Trapelus savignii in Egypt

“…Similar observations were noticed in many saurian hosts infected by haemogregarines (Abdel-Ghaffar et al, 1994;Shazly, 2000;Abou Shafeey et al, 2019) (Table 1). However, dehaemoglobinization and nucleus fragmentation were observed in erythrocytes of some lacertilian hosts such as Acanthodactylus boskianus infected by Haemogregarina damiettae (Abdel-Haleem et al, 2013) and Pseudocordylus melanotus infected by Hepatozoon affluomaloti (Van As et al, 2015).…”

Redescription, molecular characterisation and taxonomic re-evaluation of a unique African monitor lizard haemogregarine Karyolysus paradoxa (Dias, 1954) n. comb. (Karyolysidae)

“…Whilst more than 30 Hepatozoon spp. have been recorded from saurians throughout Africa [ 8 ], Karyolysus spp. have mainly been reported from lacertid lizards of Europe and Asia [ 7 ].…”

“…This is particularly true of the haemogregarines described from saurians within southern Africa. Haemogregarines, specifically species of Hepatozoon , have been commonly recorded blood parasites of southern African saurians including those from lizard genera of the families Cordylidae and Varanidae [ 8 , 9 ]. Within the African Varanidae, six species of Hepatozoon have been described, three of these from southern Africa (Table 1 ), the latter three comprising Hepatozoon varani (Laveran, 1905) from Varanus niloticus (Linnaeus, 1762) in South Africa [ 3 , 6 ], Hepatozoon camarai (Dias, 1954) and Hepatozoon paradoxa (Dias, 1954) from Varanus albigularis albigularis Daudin, 1802 in Mozambique [ 3 , 6 ].…”