Diversity of helminths in polish reptiles: a review

Abstract

The purpose of this review was to summarise the current species richness of helminths in the reptiles from Poland and to provide a hostparasite list along with studied localities. Between 1926 and 2018 the occurrence of at least 37 taxa of helminths were observed; of these, 19 belong to Trematoda, 14 to Nematoda, two to Cestoda, and two to Acanthocephala. In total, reports of 642 specimens of reptiles from 15 locations were included in this review, namely: 166 Natrix natrix (10 locations), 159 Vipera berus (6), 155 Lacerta agilis (6), 107 Zootoca vivipara (5), 52 Anguis fragilis sensu lato (4), and 3 Zamenis longissimus (1). The highest species richness of internal parasites was observed in N. natrix (at least 26 helminth taxa) and V. berus (20). Two out of nine species of reptiles, Coronella austriaca and Emys orbicularis, have not yet formed part of any helminthological surveys in Poland. To date, research conducted on helminths infecting reptiles has primarily been throughout eastern Poland. Over 60% of studied reptiles were caught in the Bieszczady Mts. or in Warsaw and its surroundings. Based on the current review, future research should focus on host species for which intestinal parasite data are poorly known i.e. E. orbicularis, Z. longissimus, C. austriaca. In general surveys should also expand into the western part of the country. Additionally, interspecies differences between two cryptic species of slow worms, Anguis fragilis and A. colchica, would provide interesting data on parasite host specificity.

First helminthological data on the Iberian adder, Vipera seoanei

“…latastei from Spain (Santos et al 2006 ; Ribas et al 2010 ) and with data from other Iberian snakes (Roca et al 2021 ). Interestingly, they contrast with data on European and American vipers that exhibit wide and diverse heminth faunas (Santos et al 2006 ; Kusmierek et al 2020 ). These discrepancies between the Iberian and other European viper hosts suggest an influence of the paleo-tectonic and climatic history of the Iberian Peninsula in shaping (and limiting) the infracommunities of Iberian vipers, as has been already indicated for the biogeographic history of these viper hosts (Martínez-Freiría et al 2015 , 2020 ), as well as other snake hosts (e.g.…”

“…Yet, other European vipers such as Vipera berus (Linnaeus, 1758), a sister taxa to V . seoanei , which is distributed across northern Europe and also linked to humid environments (Martínez-Freiría et al 2015 ; Freitas et al 2020 ), show richer and more diverse helminth communities (Shimalov and Shimalov 2000 ; Ribas et al 2010 ; Kusmierek et al 2020 ; Kirillov and Kirillova 2021 ). Consequently, we expect that the occurrence of helminths in V .…”

First helminthological data on the Iberian adder, Vipera seoanei

“…aspis and V. latastei from Spain(Santos et al 2006;Ribas et al 2010) and with data from other Iberian snakes(Roca et al 2021). Interestingly, they contrast with data on European and American vipers that exhibit wide and diverse heminth faunas(Santos et al 2006;Kusmierek et al 2020). This discrepancies between the Iberian and other European viper hosts suggest an in uence of the paleo-tectonic and climatic history of the Iberian Peninsula in shaping (and limiting) the infracommunities of Iberian vipers as has been already indicated for the biogeographic history of these viper hosts (Martínez-Freiría et al2015, 2020), as well as other snake hosts (e.g Santos et al 2008…”

Necropsies disclose a low helminth parasite diversity in periurban howler monkeys

“…Whereas parasitological studies on many free‐ranging species often involve the necropsy of collected specimens (e.g., Calegaro‐Marques & Amato, 2010a; Kusmierek et al, 2020; Santos et al, 2013), ethical and conservation restrictions make unacceptable the collection of specimens belonging to rare, threatened and long‐lived vertebrate taxa among others (e.g., Solórzano‐García & Pérez‐Ponce de León, 2018; Wolfe et al, 2001). Therefore, the interactions of these hosts with their parasites are often investigated via the examination of fecal samples (e.g., Aznar et al, 2012; Figueiredo et al, 2019; Pafčo et al, 2018).…”