Helminth fauna of Norops fuscoauratus (D’Orbigny, 1837) (Squamata: Dactyloidae) in the Atlantic Forest, northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The composition of macro endoparasites associated with the lizard Norops fuscoauratus (Squamata) was analysed in two localities in the Atlantic Forest on the northeast of Brazil between December 2012 and July 2015. 74 specimens of N. fuscoauratus were examined and five species of helminths were reported, being: (a) for the population of Pernambuco: Cystacanth (Prevalence=37.5%), Physaloptera retusa Rudolphi, 1819 (Prevalence=4.16%), larva of flatworm (Prevalence=2.08%), Rhabdias sp. (Prevalence=2.08%) and Strongyluris oscari Travassos, 1923 (Prevalence=2.08%), and (b) of Alagoas: S. oscari (Prevalence=17.85%) and Rhabdias sp. (Prevalence=3.57%). The differences in the composition of endoparasites in the two populations are attributed to individualities of environments occupied by the lizards. The collection period does not influence the abundance of parasites, but when associated with sex, there was a positive correlation with the abundance of helminths, with more females than males being infected with parasites in the rainy season.

Temporal variation in diet and helminth abundance in the spiny-tailed lizard, Strobilurus torquatus Wiegmann, 1834 (Squamata: Tropiduridae) from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

“…Several studies on species of the family Tropiduridae performed in different areas of the Neotropical region, have demonstrated the influence of host sex on endoparasite infection rates (Fontes et al, 2003;Pereira et al, 2012;Galdino et al, 2014;Araújo-Filho et al, 2016). In studies carried out with lizards of the families Leiosauridae (Sousa et al, 2007), Gymnophtalmidae (Oliveira et al, 2017) and Dactyloidae (Campos et al, 2021), differences in infection rates were also observed between male and female hosts.…”