Kalicephalus sp. in a captive Russell’s viper: a case report

Abstract

The occurrence of Kalicephalus sp. of hookworms in a Russell's viper snake maintained in Chennai snake park trust, Chennai is reported. These worms were found in the stomach and intestine. They were cylindrical, thread like and had an elongate body. Anterior end was obliquely truncated with bivalvular buccal capsule. Short, thick and muscularised oesophagus ending in a rounded bulb was observed. In males, a well developed trilobed bursa was observed and the spicules were short and equal. Typical strongyle type eggs were found in the uterus of female worms as well as in the intestinal contents.

Morphometric characteristics and seasonal proximity to water of the Cypriot blunt-nosed viper Macrovipera lebetina lebetina (Linnaeus, 1758)

“…8) showing that the highest BCI values were observed among small and medium-sized vipers (SVL < 100 cm). Large blunt-nosed vipers may lose weight due to the accumulation of endoparasites in snakes with increasing age, and the consequent loss of appetite and weight [54–56]. Zinyakova (1967) detected 25 species of endoparasites in M. l. turanica from the Soviet Union [57], while Murvanidze et al (2008) listed seven species of helminths inhabiting Georgian M. l. obtusa [58].…”

Parasitic helminths in snakes from the global legal trade

“…Heavy burdens may lead to gastrointestinal inflammation, haemorrhagic ulceration, and death (Kavitha et al, 2014). The genus Kalicephalus is reported to infect snakes all over the world and parasitizing the gastrointestinal tract of snakes from the esophagus to the small intestine (Purwaningsih, 2011;Kavitha et al, 2014;).…”

“…Heavy burdens may lead to gastrointestinal inflammation, haemorrhagic ulceration, and death (Kavitha et al, 2014). The genus Kalicephalus is reported to infect snakes all over the world and parasitizing the gastrointestinal tract of snakes from the esophagus to the small intestine (Purwaningsih, 2011;Kavitha et al, 2014;). In the parasitological survey, Hallinger et al (2020) examined 586 stool samples from 71 different snake species either kept as pets in households or at zoological gardens in Germany.…”

The occurrence of the strongylid nematodes, Kalicephalus viparae viparae (Nematoda: Diaphanocephalidae), in viper Snake, Macrovipera lebetina (Reptilia: Viperidae), Southwestern Iran

“…More than 50 species of Kalicephalus have been identified in a wide range of different species of snake as well as humans throughout the world which do not have any host specificity (Chai et al 2003;Santoro et al 2013;Matt et al 2020). Although this reptile intestinal nematode has been reported from various Asian countries including India (Kavitha et al 2014), the Philippines (Kuzmin et al 2013), Nepal (Pun and Maharjan 2016), China (Liu et al 2017), Republic of Korea (Choe et al 2016), Indonesia (Purwaningsih and Mumpuni 2011), Iraq (Anah et al 2019) and Turkey (Düşen et al 2010), there were no reports of Kalicephalus spp. from Iran.…”