Spatial-temporal variation of parasites in Cnemidophorus ocellifer (Teiidae) and Tropidurus hispidus and Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Tropiduridae) from Caatinga areas in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Parasites are natural regulators of their host populations. Despite this, little is known about variations in parasite composition (spatially or temporally) in environments subjected to water-related periodic stress such as the arid and semiarid regions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the spatial-temporal variation in endoparasite species' abundance and richness in populations of Neotropical Cnemidophorus ocellifer, Tropidurus hispidus, and Tropidurus semitaeniatus lizards in the semiarid northeast of Brazil. The location influenced the abundance of parasites in all analyzed lizard species, while season (dry and rainy) only influenced the total abundance for T. hispidus. In all seasons, males significantly showed more endoparasites than females in all lizard species, although for T. hispidus, this difference was only found in the dry season. Seasonal variations affect the abundance patterns of parasites. Likely, variables include environmental variations such as humidity and temperature, which influence the development of endoparasite eggs when outside of the host. Further, the activity of the intermediate hosts and the parasites of heteroxenous life cycles could be affected by an environmental condition. The variation in the abundance of parasites between the sampling areas could be a reflection of variations in climate and physiochemical conditions. Also, it could be due to differences in the quality of the environment in which each host population lives.

Ecology and parasitism of the lizard Tropidurus jaguaribanus (Squamata: Tropiduridae) from northeastern Brazil

“…and S. oscari) are relatively common in species of Tropidurus. They have been recorded in T. torquatus (Ribas et al 1998, T. semitaeniatus (Brito et al 2014, Bezerra et al 2016, T. hispidus (Anjos et al 2013, Galdino et al 2014), and T. guarani Alvarez, Cei and Scolaro, 1994(Vicente 1981). All parasites found in T. jaguaribanus are new host records.…”

“…The pattern of parasite infection, especially by helminths, is strongly associated with foraging patterns and use of available resources (food and space) by lizards (Anderson 2000, Ávila and Silva 2010, Sharpilo et al 2001, Brito et al 2014, Galdino et al 2014. Helminths are discrete components of the ecosystem and they can have a negative effect on the physical condition of their hosts (Thomas et al 2010) by causing alterations in metabolic functioning (Dare and Forbes 2008), sexual selection (Kose and Møller 1999), interspecific competition (Lafferty 1999), and growth (Kelehear et al 2011).…”

Helminth parasites of Phyllodactylidae and Gekkonidae lizards in a Caatinga ecological station, northeastern Brazil

“…Currently, there are 23 genera of helminths recognized as parasites of the lizard families Phyllodactylidae and Gekkonidae (Anjos et al 2005;Ávila & Silva 2010;Ávila et al 2010;Brito et al 2014a;Sousa et al 2014;Cazorla & Morales Moreno 2015;Bezerra et al 2016; this study); for the Caatinga biome, about 10 species of helminths have already been reported with a prevalence above 50% (Anjos et al 2005;Avila et al 2012;Brito et al 2014b;Sousa et al 2014; this study), and there were four helminth species with prevalences below 60% for deserts and coastal areas in Peru (Goldberg & Bursey 2010); two species had prevalences of 33.3% in the Brazilian Amazon forest (Ávila & Silva 2013); two species had prevalences up to 22.8% in the Atlantic Forest (Ávila et al 2010;Almeida-Gomes et al 2012); and three helminth species had prevalences below 15% for the tropical thorny mountain areas of Venezuela (Cazorla & Morales Moreno 2015). Notwithstanding that some genera and species of helminths were previously reported for different biomes as parasites of geckos, as S. oxkutzcabiensis and all species of the genera Oochoristica and Parapharyngodon, almost all prevalences registered for them were below that obtained for the Caatinga biome [e.g., Oochoristica sp.…”

“…These species are sit-and-wait foragers, have nocturnal habits (except for the diurnal L. klugei) and an insectivore diet (Vitt 1995;Colli et al 2003;Rocha & Rodrigues 2005;Mesquita et al 2006;Sousa 2010;Recorder et al 2012;Albuquerque et al 2013;Passos & Rocha 2013;Passos et al 2015). The studies reporting helminth parasitism in South America for both families have been conducted by Anjos et al (2005), Ávila & Silva (2010), Ávila et al (2010), Ávila & Silva (2013), Brito et al (2014a), Sousa et al (2014), Cazorla & Morales Moreno (2015) and Bezerra et al (2016).…”

Immunocompetence and parasite infestation in a melanistic and normally-coloured population of the lacertid lizard, Podarcis siculus

“…Secondly, while the aforementioned studies by Vroonen et al (2013) and Seddon and Hews (2016) were conducted early in reproductive season (May-June), we surveyed our study site near the end of the season (September). Temporal variation in parasite abundance (which can moreover differ among localities; Brito et al, 2014), but also lizard immune function (Huyghe et al, 2009), might obscure clear patterns of covariance between melanisation and immunity. Clearly, future studies should invest in collecting information at multiple times throughout the reproductive season.…”