Journal of Parasitology

The ischnoceran louse, Lipeurus tropicalis, which normally infests Gallus gallus domesticus, was subjected to in vitro study (35 ± 1 C, 75-82% relative humidity, on a feather diet). The life table was computed, and its intrinsic rate of natural increase (r) was calculated using the data from in vitro experiments. The value of the intrinsic rate of natural growth (r) is 0.032. Given this rate, a population of L. tropicalis should double after 21.66 days, indicating that it is a moderately paced breeder.

The atractid nematode Cyrtosomum penneri is an autoinfective parasite of several lizard species. Intraspecific transmission between hosts appears to occur exclusively through sexual copulation, yet it is unclear how worms are transferred between different host species. Our research aims to test the possibility of oral transmission of C. penneri using experimental infections. The lizards Anolis sagrei, Leiocephalus carinatus, Hemidactylus mabouia, and Agama picticauda were experimentally exposed to C. penneri in 1 of these groups: (1) oral infection using a feces and saline slurry to approximate host coprophagy, (2) oral infection with a large meal to approximate host predation, and (3) venereal infection using a pipette to confirm sexual transmission...

With the intensity and frequency of wildfires increasing rapidly, the need to study the ecological effects of these wildfires is also growing. An understudied aspect of fire ecology is the effect fires have on parasite-host interactions, including ectoparasites that might be pathogen vectors. Although some studies have examined the impacts of fire on ticks, studies on other ectoparasites, including pathogen vectors, are rare. To help address this knowledge gap, we examined the abiotic and biotic factors that predict the likelihood and extent of parasitism of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) by fleas within a landscape of unburned and recovering burned (>9 yr postfire) mixed conifer forests...

Naegleria fowleri is a protozoan that causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). The infection occurs when the trophozoites enter the nasal cavity, adhere to the nasal mucosa, invade the epithelium, and migrate until they reach the olfactory bulb. Like other pathogens, there is evidence that the adhesion of N. fowleri to host cells is an important factor in the process of cytopathogenicity and disease progression. However, the factors involved in the adhesion of the pathogen to the cells of the nasal epithelium have not been characterized...

Paperna, 1972 (Monogenoidea: Dactylogyridae) was found parasitizing the gill lamellae of devil firefish, Pterois miles (Bennet) (Perciformes: Scorpaenidae), in the Red Sea off Safaga (26°44'N, 33°56'E), Egypt. The parasite species was described based on morphological features of available specimens and transferred to PlatycephalotremaKritsky and Nitta, 2019 (Dactylogyridae) as Platycephalotrema pteroisi (Paperna, 1972) n. comb. The occurrence of Pl. pteroisi off Safaga, Egypt, represented a range extension for the helminth of about 160 km to the southwest of the southern end of the Gulf of Aqaba...

Two new species of lung-dwelling nematodes are described from North American frogs: Rhabdias aurorae n. sp. from Rana aurora and Rhabdias conni n. sp. from Rana clamitans and Rana catesbeiana from Arkansas; the latter species was also found in Oklahoma and Georgia. Rhabdias aurorae n. sp. differs from other Nearctic congeners in the combination of the following characteristics: buccal capsule 22-25 μm wide, elongated tail covered with inflated cuticle, esophagus with prominent dilatation in anterior part and 6 small circumoral lips...

During March 2023, 7 green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) and 2 bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) were collected from the Black River (White River drainage) in Lawrence County, Arkansas. In addition, during March 2023 and again in May-June 2023, 13 L. cyanellus and 6 L. macrochirus were taken from Butcherknife and Big Fork creeks (Ouachita River drainage), Polk County, Arkansas, 9 L. cyanellus were collected from the Caddo River, Montgomery County, Arkansas, and 5 green sunfish were taken from Clear Creek at Savoy, Washington County, Arkansas...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Muscles of 25 bobcats (Lynx rufus) from remote areas of Mississippi in 2017 were tested for parasites. Testing for Sarcocystis infections included microscopic examination of fresh unstained muscle squashes, pepsin digestion of hearts and tongues, and histological sections of paraffin-embedded tissues. Sarcocystis spp. infections were detected in the muscles of 21 (84%) by a combination of methods. Sarcocysts were detected in the unstained tongue squashes of 2 bobcats. Sarcocystis sp. bradyzoites were detected in the pepsin digests of 3 of 19 hearts, and 12 of 19 tongues...

Myxospores discovered floating free in the bile of marine fishes from the south-central coast of Vietnam were identified using morphological and molecular methods, leading to the description of 2 new species. Ceratomyxa chauvanminhi n. sp. was detected in 16% (8/50) of cultured barramundi Lates calcarifer (Bloch) specimens, and Ceratomyxa sekoi n. sp. was found in 20% (5/25) of wild largehead hairtail Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus specimens. The spores of C. chauvanminhi n. sp. are very shallowly ovoid, slightly crescent shaped, and 11...

The tadpole-dwelling pinworm, Gyrinicola batrachiensis (Walton, 1929) Adamson, 1981 was recognized as the sole representative of the genus across Canada and the United States. However, evaluation of the morphology of these parasites across their range revealed considerable morphological variability that suggested diagnosable morphotypes. These morphotypes were associated with different species of anurans, several of which occurred in sympatry. Herein we use an extensive geographic sampling across the United States to obtain the morphotypes, screen their genetic diversity, and analyze this information using an integrative approach...

Enteric parasites can have wide-ranging effects throughout an ecosystem, often driving coevolutionary and ecological processes. Parasites have long been overlooked in conservation efforts because of the negative impact inflicted on their hosts; however, parasites make up a significant component of Earth's biodiversity and host conservation efforts need to be parasite inclusive. The Vancouver Island marmot (VIM), Marmota vancouverensis, is an endangered alpine rodent endemic to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada...

Some helminth test methods for sanitation samples include a phase extraction step to reduce lipid content and final pellet size before microscopy. Hydrophilic and lipophilic solutions are used to create 2 phases, with a plug of organic material or debris in between, whilst eggs are supposedly compacted at the bottom of the test tube. We tested 10% formalin, acetoacetic buffer, and acid alcohol as the hydrophilic solutions, and ethyl acetate and diethyl ether as the lipophilic solvents for egg recoverability from water, primary sludge, and fatty sludge...

Histomoniasis, caused by the protozoan, Histomonas meleagridis, is an economically important disease of turkeys, and it also affects several other species of domesticated and wild Galliformes, including chickens. Under natural conditions, the parasite is transmitted through eggs of a nematode, Heterakis gallinarum, that shares its hosts with Hi. meleagridis. The protozoan infects tissues of both male and female He. gallinarum and eventually is carried within the worm egg. Histomonas meleagridis more readily infects and develops in chickens, and the proximity of chicken farms is a major risk factor for outbreaks in turkeys...

Herein, we provide a supplemental description of Caballerotrema annulatum (Diesing, 1850) Ostrowski de Núñez and Sattmann, 2002 (Digenea: Caballerotrematidae Tkach, Kudlai, and Kostadinova, 2016) based on specimens collected from the intestine of an electric eel, Electrophorus cf. varii (Gymnotiformes: Gymnotidae) captured in the Amazon River (Colombia). This caballerotrematid can be differentiated from its congeners by the following combination of morphological features: body surface spines forming contiguous transverse rows, concentric (wrapping dorso-ventrally around body), distributing into posterior body half (vs...

A total of 366 individuals of Lutjanus argentiventris (Peters, 1869) were collected over a 5-yr period (October 2018 to June 2022) from Acapulco Bay, Mexico. Parasite communities in Lutjanus argentiventris were quantified and analyzed to determine the main factors that generate changes in species richness and/or species composition over time. The digeneans and copepods were the best-represented parasite groups. The parasite communities were characterized by a high numerical dominance of ectoparasites, mainly isopod larvae...

In salt marsh ecosystems, daggerblade grass shrimp, Palaemon (Palaemonetes) pugio, play a crucial role in food webs and serve as the definitive host for the bopyrid isopod Probopyrus pandalicola. These ectoparasites infest the branchial chambers of grass shrimp, which can lead to decreased energy availability and sterilization of infected hosts. Although bopyrid isopod infestation of daggerblade grass shrimp has been frequently reported in literature from coastal marshes of the southeastern United States, the prevalence of this parasite has not been recently documented in daggerblade grass shrimp from marshes of the northeastern United States...

Among-deme asynchrony has the potential to influence community richness and diversity by increasing the likelihood of regional persistence for a species. Parasites of Lepomis spp. collected from 4 localities at J. Strom Thurmond Lake, South Carolina over a 1-yr period were used to evaluate patterns of parasite population synchrony. Localities were separated by approximately 5 km to increase the likelihood that the parasites sampled represented different demes. Tylodelphys scheuringi and Crinicleidus longus, exhibited negative covariation between synchrony and among-locality distances...

This study documents the presence of anti-Neospora caninum antibodies and their association with certain risk factors in 2 deer species from the central region of Veracruz State, Mexico. A total of 90 blood samples, 20 from temazate deer (Mazama temama) and 70 from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), were taken from 3 farms, and serum samples were subjected to ELISA indirect test to detect N. caninum antibodies; the association between the serological status and the possible risk factors was then estimated...

Environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys promise to be a sensitive and powerful tool for the detection of trematodes. This can contribute to the limited studies on trematode ecology, specifically in aquatic ecosystems. Here, we developed species-specific primer and probe sets for Moliniella anceps, Opisthioglyphe ranae, and Plagiorchis multiglandularis cercariae and applied a novel eDNA qPCR assay to detect larval trematodes quantitatively. We evaluated the effectiveness of the assays using filtered lake water samples collected from different sites of Lake Fadikha and Kargat River Estuary in Lake Chany, Russia, showing high species specificity and sensitivity in all 3 assays...