Helminth Parasites of the Juvenile Hawksbill TurtleEretmochelys imbricata(Testudines: Cheloniidae) in Brazil

Abstract

The helminth fauna of 31 juvenile specimens of Eretmochelys imbricata from the Brazilian coast was examined. Seventeen individuals were infected with helminths (54.8%). The helminths found were: Diaschistorchis pandus, Cricocephalus albus, Metacetabulum invaginatum, Pronocephalus obliquus (Pronocephalidae), Cymatocarpus solearis (Brachycoeliidae), Styphlotrema solitaria (Styphlotrematidae), Carettacola stunkardi, Amphiorchis caborojoensis (Spirorchiidae), Orchidasma amphiorchis (Telorchiidae), and Anisakis nematode larvae. This report is the first analysis of parasite communities in this host.

Checklist of sea turtles endohelminth in Neotropical region

“…(Braun, 1901) Johnstone, 1913 Site of infection: Stomach and small intestine. Host and distribution: C. mydas from Brazil (Werneck & Silva, 2015); E. imbricata from Brazil (Werneck et al, 2015b), Cuba (Vigueras, 1955) and Puerto Rico (Fischthal & Acholonu, 1976;Dyer et al, 1995a).…”

“…Site of infection: Esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and liver. Host and distribution: C. mydas from Brazil (Travassos et al, 1969;Werneck & Silva, 2015;Binoti et al, 2016) and Costa Rica (Santoro et al, 2006); E. imbricata from Brazil (Werneck et al, 2015b).…”

“…Host and distribution: C. mydas from Brazil (Werneck & Silva, 2015) and Mexico (Caballero, 1959); E. imbricata from Brazil (Werneck et al, 2015b) Family Plagiorchiidae Lühe, 1901 Enodiotrema megachondrus (Looss, 1899) Looss, 1901 Site of infection: Small intestine. Host and distribution: C. mydas from Brazil (Werneck et al, 2016a); E. imbricata from Cuba (Groschaft et al, 1977); L. olivacea from Costa Rica and México (Pérez-Ponce de Leon et al, 1996;Vivaldo et al, 2006).…”

“…Fischthal & Acholonu, 1976 Site of infection: Blood vessels of lung, liver, small intestine, body wash and heart. Host and distribution: E. imbricata from Puerto Rico (Dyer et al, 1995a;Fischthal & Acholonu, 1976) and Brazil (Werneck et al, 2008b;Dutra et al, 2012;Werneck et al, 2015b).…”

“…Site of infection: Blood vessels of urinary bladder, heart, body wash and liver. Host and distribution: C. mydas from Brazil and Panamá (Caballero et al, 1955); E. imbricata from Brazil (Werneck et al, 2008b;Werneck et al, 2015b) and Costa Rica (Santoro et al, 2015).…”