Gastric nematodes of Nile crocodiles, <i>Crocodylus niloticus</i> Laurenti, 1768, in the Okavango River, Botswana

Abstract

The ascaridoid nematodes Dujardinascaris madagascariensis Chabaud &amp; Caballero, 1966, Dujardinascaris dujardini (Travassos, 1920), Gedoelstascaris vandenbrandeni (Baylis, 1929) Sprent, 1978 and Multicaecum agile (Wedl, 1861) Baylis, 1923 were recovered from the stomach contents of Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti, 1768 from the Okavango River, Botswana, together with Eustrongylides sp., a dioctophymatoid nematode usually parasitizing piscivorous birds. Dujardinascaris madagascariensis was present in most of the infected hosts, while the remaining species were mostly represented in single collections in one to three hosts. All four ascaridoid nematodes represent new geographic records.

Parasitic infections of the African dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) and the ornate Nile monitor (Varanus ornatus) from Nigeria

“…Of the four endoparasites recovered from O. tetraspis, P. thomasi, Dujardinascaris sp. and pentastomids have been previously reported from crocodiles by other investigators (Dollfus 1935;Sprent 1977;Fischthal and Thomas 1968;Graber 1981;Huchzermeyer 1995 a, b, 2000;Riley et al 1997;Junker et al 2006a).…”

Public health risks involved in the human consumption of reptile meat - Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Biological Hazards

“…In these hosts, Eustrongylides larvae (25-150 mm x 2 mm) are able to cause intestinal perforation (Eberhard et al, 1989), or visceral lesions (Beaver et al, 1984). The zoonotic potential of these larvae, which have been found in crocodiles (Fang et al, 1991;Goldberg et al, 1991;Acha and Szyfres, 1994;Junker et al, 2006) is significant. Fish-eating crocodiles and other fish-eating vertebrates such as water snakes (Bursey, 1986) or humans (Eberhard et al, 1989;Narr et al, 1996) may acquire the infection from infected fishes.…”

Gastric Lesions in Free-Ranging Black Caimans (Melanosuchus niger) Associated With Brevimulticaecum Species

“…Five species of Brevimulticaecum, B. baylisi, B. tenuicolle, B. stekhoveni, B. gibsoni, B. pintoi, are gastric parasites of crocodilians from North and South America. 5,10 Caiman sclerops and C. caiman yacare specimens captured in the States of São Paulo and Mato Grosso, respectively, are cited as definitive hosts of Brevimulticaecum species. 8 Additional descriptions of Brevimulticaecum species include C. c. crocodilus captured in Venezuela and Brazil, A. mississipiensis captured in the United States and M. niger captured in Brazil.…”