Nematode parasites of Chelidae (Testudines) from Southern Brazil

Abstract

The presence of helminths associated with freshwater turtles is rarely reported. There are no records of nematodes parasitizing Acanthochelys spixii, and for Hydromedusa tectifera, there is only the report of unidentified nematodes found in this species in Argentina. This is the first report of nematodes (Spiroxys contortus and Camallanus sp.) in A. spixii and the first record of Spiroxys contortus and Camallanus sp. in H. tectifera. This is the southernmost record of S . contortus because this nematode was previously recorded only in Mexico.

Neotropical Turtle Blood Flukes: Two New Genera and Species from the Amazon River Basin with a Key to Genera and Comments on a Marine-Derived Parasite Lineage in South America

“…The South American pleurodires remain especially undersampled for parasites. Recent parasitological surveys focused on ectoparasites and gastro-intestinal helminths have highlighted this gap in knowledge and have begun addressing it (e.g., Mascarenhas et al, 2013Mascarenhas et al, , 2016Fernandes and Kohn, 2014;Viana et al, 2016;Du Preez et al, 2017;Correa et al, 2018;Pereira et al, 2018). In contrast, and perhaps owing to the difficulty in extracting taxonomically useful specimens from turtle blood, the blood parasites of freshwater turtles in South America remain unsampled.…”

Camallanus emydidius n. sp. (Nematoda: Camallanidae) in Trachemys dorbigni (Duméril & Bibron, 1835) (Testudines: Emydidae) from Southern Brazil

“…Concerning Camallanus sp. reported in H. tectifera and A. spixii (Mascarenhas et al., 2013), we believe that they may belong to C. emydidius n. sp., however, examining these specimens we concluded that there is the need to collect more nematodes in these hosts to make a proper identification.…”

“…(1971) Serpinema amazonicus (Ribeiro, 1940) Podocnemis expansa (Podocnemididae)BrazilRibeiro (1940) Serpinema monospiculatus Freitas & Dobbin Jr., 1962 Mesoclemmys turbeculata (Chelidae) Mesoclemmys nasuta (Chelidae) Phrynops geoffroanus (Chelidae)BrazilFreitas et al. (1971) Phrynops geoffroanus (Chelidae)BrazilSilva (2014) Camallanus sp. Acanthochelys spixii (Chelidae) Hydromedusa tectifera (Chelidae)BrazilMascarenhas et al. (2013) Phrynops hilarii (Chelidae)BrazilBernardon et al.…”

New records of helminths in Chelidae freshwater turtles (Testudines) in South America

“…Studies on helminths that parasitize freshwater turtles of family Chelidae in South America were conducted in Brazil (Freitas & Dobbin Jr., 1971;Vieira et al, 2008;Ávila et al, 2010;Bernardon et al, 2013;Novelli et al, 2013;Mascarenhas et al, 2013;Silva, 2014;Novelli et al, 2014;Vieira et al, 2016;Mascarenhas et al, 2016;, Argentina (Lombardero & Moriena, 1977;Palumbo et al, 2016), and Uruguay (Cordero, 1946;Mañé-Garzón & Gil, 1961a, b, c, d;Mañé-Garzón & Gil, 1962a, b;Brooks & Holcman, 1993). In Brazil, digenetics (Bernardon et al, 2013;Mascarenhas et al, 2016) and nematodes (Bernardon et al, 2013;Mascarenhas et al, 2013 were reported parasitizing the Acanthochelys spixii (Duméril & Bibron, 1835), Hydromedusa tectifera Cope, 1870 and Phrynops hilarii (Duméril & Bibron, 1835). The aim of this study was to report new cases of gastrointestinal helminths of Chelidae freshwater turtles in South America.…”

“…Notes: Spiroxys contortus was recorded in Argentina parasitizing P. hilarii with prevalence (P) of 70% and mean intensity of infection (MII) of 3 helminths/host and H. tectifera with P = 70% and MII = 1.7 helminths/host (Palumbo et al, 2016). In Brazil, the species was registered in H. tectifera with MII of 14.2 helminths/host (Mascarenhas et al, 2013) and T. dorbigni with MII of 70.17 helminths/host (Mascarenhas & Müller, 2015a). It is the first case of Spiroxys contortus in P. hilarii in Brazil.…”