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An adult Pantherophis spiloides coiled on a rock ledge adjacent to crevices that previously had Aneides aeneus, including a female brooding eggs, in southeastern Kentucky, USA.
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... Parasitological studies in reptiles have expanded in recent years, particularly those involving snakes (Ávila et al., 2013;Kuzmin et al., 2016;Mati et al., 2015;Matias et al., 2018;Quirino et al., 2018;Oliveira et al., 2020Oliveira et al., , 2023Araújo et al., 2020;Halán & Kottferová, 2021;Conga et al., 2024), which can serve as definitive or intermediate hosts for various groups of parasites (Araújo et al., 2020;Oliveira et al., 2021;Ferreira-Silva et al., 2022). Understanding the parasitic fauna of wild animals is crucial for comprehending ecological interactions of parasites and their hosts, including natural history, life cycles, and evolutionary aspects of this relationship (Silva, 2008;Matias et al., 2018). ...
The knowledge of parasitic fauna in wild animals is essential for understanding the ecological conditions that determine the occurrence and prevalence of parasites in their hosts. With the exception of records of one Pentastomida (Cephalobaena tetrapoda Heymons, 1922) and two Nematoda (Physaloptera sp. and Aspiculuris sp.), detailed information about the helminth fauna associated with the jararaca Bothrops erythromelas Amaral, 1923 is lacking. This species has a wide distribution in the Caatinga, with records in marginal areas of the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest. Here, we describe the patterns of richness, abundance, and prevalence of helminths in B. erythromelas, a venomous snake from northeastern Brazil. The parasitized snakes were collected from six Brazilian states in the Northeast region: Bahia, Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, and Rio Grande do Norte. We examined the gastrointestinal tract of 127 specimens and found 76 individuals infected with at least one endoparasite, represented by 317 taxa of helminths: two Acanthocephala, three Cestoda, and 12 Nematoda. With our results, knowledge about hidden biodiversity is expanded, particularly as this is a pioneering study regarding the helminth fauna of B. erythromelas. We also describe the occurrence of the species Physaloptera lutzi Cristofaro, Guimarães & Rodrigues, 1976 and Parapharyngodon hispidus Ferreira et al., 2021 for the first time in snakes
Because of their host's energetic exhaustion, parasites are among the first species to be influenced by environmental changes. The change in habitats caused by human activities can negatively influence ecosystems, reducing the resistance of host species to parasite attacks. There is little information on the role of urban disturbance in altering diversity and parasitic interactions in aquatic snakes. In this study, the diversity and structure of the parasite community in the water snake Helicops angulatus were investigated. The snakes were collected in three habitat areas (urban, periurban, and forest) in three municipalities on the north coast of the state of Paraíba, Brazil. Forty of the 158 watersnakes analyzed (25.3%) were infected. In total, 137 helminths were collected, representing an overall mean infection intensity of 3.58 ± 2.0. Considering both habitats environments (urban, peri-urban and forest), six Nematoda taxa (Oswaldocruzia mazzai, Brevimulticaecum sp., Eustrongylides sp., Physaloptera sp., Filariidae larva, and an unidentified Nematoda larva), four trematodes (Infidum aff. similis, Travtrema aff. stenocotyle, Heterodiplostomum helicopsis, and encysted metacercariae), two Acanthocephala (Centrorhynchidae gen. sp. and Oligacanthorhynchidae gen. sp.), and one Pentastomida (Sebekia oxycephala) were found, all of which represent the first record for H. angulatus with the exception of S. oxycephala.. The species diversity of endoparasites in H. angulatus was greater in urbanized habitats. Regarding interaction networks, there was low modularity and no nesting. This result may be linked to anthropization, indicating changes in the parasite-host relationship due to urbanization. In the forest areas there was a significant difference in the number of individuals, which was due to a single species of parasite (Physaloptera sp., 21 individuals) where it infected a single female. Physaloptera was the most abundant endoparasite present in the three areas. There were no significant differences in the size and sex of the snakes with parasite infection. This study provides important information about the relationships between parasites, hosts, and the habitat. It also shows that the increase in parasite diversity and new records are linked to habitat degradation.