Morphologic and morphometric characteristics of ascaroid worm, Ophidascaris piscatori in Xenochrophis piscator snake in Sidoarjo, Indonesia

Abstract

Aim:The study was conducted to describe the morphology and morphometry of nematode worm in the stomach of Xenochrophis piscator snake macroscopically and microscopically using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Materials and Methods:The sample was 40 nematode worms that have been collected from 60 snakes which slaughtered at snake slaughterhouses in Sidoarjo, Indonesia. The worms (10 male and 10 female) were stained with carmine, and the others were sent to Indonesian Science Institute for ultrastructure observation by SEM. Some of the female worms were immersed in physiological NaCl and incubated to collect the worm eggs.Results:Nematode worm in this study had three lips with almost the same size and it had papillae, so it was included in ascaridoid. The mouth of ascaridoids has three lips, the dorsal bearing two large outer papillae and the each lateroventral with one papilla. The body length and width of the male worm were 70-105 mm and 0.92-1.32, respectively, with head diameter of 0.22-0.28 mm. Dorsal and ventrolateral lips almost have the same size that was 0.10-0.12×0.11-0.13 mm. The length of interlabia was 0.06-0.08 mm, esophagus was 3.21-4 mm, tail was 0.17-0.23 mm, and spicule was 2.12-3.36 mm. The body length and width of the female worm were 85-130 mm and 1.28-1.71 mm, respectively. The head diameter was 0.29-0.38 mm. Dorsal and ventrolateral lips almost have the same size that was 0.13-0.16×0.15-0.19 mm. The interlabial length was 0.08-0.10 mm, esophagus was 3.04-4.67 mm, and tail was 0.22-0.31 mm. The distance of the vulva from the anterior edge was 56-88 mm with an average of 67.35 mm. The eggs have conspicuously pitted with length 0.08-0.09 mm and width 0.07-0.08 mm.Conclusion:Based on the characteristics of morphology and morphometry, the ascaroid worms found on X. piscator snake from Sidoarjo, Indonesia, were O. piscatori.

Ophidascaris sp. in an African Rock Python (Python sebae) in Ghana: A Case Report

“…4). Examination of adult worms under a compound light microscope at 40x as described by others [12] revealed three lips armed with papillae at the anterior ends of the adult worms, as seen in the ascaridoids [13]. The three relatively smaller males measured 63 mm, 82 mm, and 117 mm in length.…”

“…This gastrointestinal nematode is found in snakes worldwide [18], infecting various species [6,13]. These nematodes are often embedded in inflammatory nodules near the gastric pylorus, distal esophagus, stomach, or small intestine [7].…”

“…These morphologic and morphometric characteristics of the specimens matched that of Ophidascaris sp. [13].…”

Intestinal obstruction associated with helminth parasitic infection in a wild-caught Pope’s Green Pitviper, Trimeresurus popeiorum Smith 1937

“…The mean (range) body lengths of the nematodes were 85.7 mm (84.0-87.4 mm) and 123.7 mm (120.5-127 mm) in males and females, respectively. Based on the aforementioned features and published works (Sprent 1988;Li et al 2016;Suwanti et al 2018), we identified the eggs and the nematode as a species of Ophidascaris Baylis 1921, an ascarid genus of nematodes commonly found in reptiles (Sundar et al 2016). We also examined 10 additional preserved museum specimens of T. popeiorum collected from nature, but found no parasitic worms in their digestive tracts.…”

ITS Sequence Analysis of Ophidascaris Baylisi from Burmese Pythons

“…larvae survived carcass putrefaction, remained viable in water for a minimum of three weeks, and retained their infectivity to snakes (Sprent, 1970). In pythons, the migration of Ophidascaris larvae resulted in tissue bleeding, in ammation, and secondary infection, while adult parasitism caused severe gastric granulomas and adenocarcinoma, intestinal obstruction, anorexia, malnutrition, and even death (Elbihari and Hussein,1973;Hamir,1986;Baron et al, 2018;Suwanti et al, 2018). Thus, this parasitic nematode can threaten the health of snakes and the economic value of their products.…”