Two new species of Hepatozoon (Apicomplexa: Hepatozoidae) parasitising species of Philothamnus (Ophidia: Colubridae) from South Africa

Abstract

To date, only a few species of Hepatozoon Miller, 1908 have been described from amphibians and reptiles of South Africa, including two species from anuran hosts, three from saurians, one from chelonians, and two from ophidians. Hepatozoon bitis (Fantham, 1925) and Hepatozoon refringens (Sambon et Seligmann, 1907), parasitising Bitis arientans (Merrem) and Pseudoaspis cana (Linnaeus), respectively, were described in the early 1900s and since then there have been no further species of Hepatozoon described from snakes in South Africa. Blood smears, used in peripheral blood haemogregarine stage morphometrics, and whole blood used in molecular characterisation of haemogregarines were collected from the caudal vein of six snakes of three species, namely Philothamnus hoplogaster (Günther), Philothamnus semivariegatus (Smith) and Philothamnus natalensis natalensis (Smith). For comparison, a comprehensive table summarising available information on species of Hepatozoon from African snakes is presented. Haemogregarines found infecting the snakes from the present study were morphologically and molecularly different from any previously described from Africa and are thus here described as Hepatozoon angeladaviesae sp. n. and Hepatozoon cecilhoarei sp. n. Both haemogregarine species were observed to cause considerable dehaemoglobinisation of the host cell, in case of infection with H. angeladaviesae resulting in a characteristic peripheral undulation of the host cell membrane and karyorrhexis. To the authors' knowledge, these are the first haemogregarines parasitising snakes of the genus Philothamnus Smith described using both morphological and molecular characteristics in Africa.

A new species,Dactylosoma piperisn. sp. (Apicomplexa, Dactylosomatidae), from the pepper frogLeptodactylus labyrinthicus(Anura, Leptodactylidae) from Mato Grosso State, Brazil.

“…as a separate species. Thus, although the 18S rRNA gene is a conservative marker, it has provided stability between closely related genera and species within Adeleorina [15,18,59,61,68,70].…”

Molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis of Cryptosporidium, Hepatozoon and Spirometra in snakes from central China

“…Only two Hepatozoon species have been previously reported in snakes from China, even though a high diversity of Hepatozoon spp. have been reported in various snake species throughout the world (Cook et al, 2018; Han et al, 2015; Tomé et al, 2012; Tome et al, 2014). In 1987, Indo-Chinese rat snakes ( Ptyas korros ), radiated rat snakes ( Coelognathus radiata ), freshwater snakes ( Xenochrophis piscator ) and Chinese water snakes ( Enhydris chinensis ) have been reported to be infected with H. guangdongense , which has been described based on microscopic evidence.…”

Neofoleyellides boerewors n. gen. n. sp. (Nematoda: Onchocercidae) parasitising common toads and mosquito vectors: morphology, life history, experimental transmission and host-vector interaction in situ

“…Based on previous research of herpetofaunal blood parasites in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) (Netherlands et al, 2014;Cook et al, 2015Cook et al, , 2016Cook et al, 2018; and the occurrence of microfilariae in anurans (Netherlands et al, 2015), northern KZN is well suited as a model ecosystem for research on blood parasite diversity and their associated life cycles. Members of Bufonidae are common in this area and have been reported to be parasitised with several blood parasite taxa, including microfilariae (Netherlands et al, 2014;Netherlands et al, 2015).…”