Pentastomids infecting an invader lizard, Hemidactylus mabouia (Gekkonidae) in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

From January to April 2006, 37 specimens of Hemidactylus mabouia were collected in houses, in the municipality of Barbalha (7° 20' S and 39° 18' W), Ceará State, Northeast Brazil. Among the individuals captured, 17 were infected with pentastomids, totalling a prevalence of 45.9%, which did not differ between sexes. Host size did not influence the infection intensity. Two species of pentastomids were found: Raillietiella frenatus and R. mottae. The prevalence of R. frenatus (43.2%) was higher than R. mottae (2.7%), whereas the infection intensity of R. frenatus was comparatively lower (1.8 1.4) than R. mottae (36 parasites in a single host). Overall mean intensity of infection was 3.8 8.4 pentastomids. We found no pentastomid infecting juvenile geckos. The parameters of infection in this host population are in accordance to the findings of other studies, in which the high parasitism rate was associated to the feeding habits of geckos living in houses and buildings. Hemidactylus mabouia is a new host to R. mottae and the infection by R. frenatus is the first record of the occurrence this pentastomid species in Brazil.Keywords: Raillietiella, Pentastomida, house geckos, neotropical region. Pentastomídeos infectando um lagarto invasor, Hemidactylus mabouia (Gekkonidae), na região nordeste do Brasil ResumoDe janeiro a abril de 2006 foram coletados 37 espécimes de Hemidactylus mabouia em domicílios no município de Barbalha (7° 20' S e 39° 18' W), Estado do Ceará, Nordeste do Brasil. Entre os indivíduos capturados, 17 estavam infectados com pentastomídeos, totalizando uma prevalência de 45,9%, sem diferenças significantes entre os sexos. O tamanho dos hospedeiros também não influenciou na intensidade de infecção. Duas espécies de pentastomídeos foram encontradas: Raillietiella frenatus e R. mottae. A prevalência de R. frenatus (43,2%) foi mais alta do que a de R. mottae (2,7%), enquanto que a intensidade média de infecção de R. frenatus foi comparativamente mais baixa (1.8 1.4) do que a de R. mottae (36 parasitas em um único indivíduo). A intensidade geral de infecção foi de 3.8 8.4 pentastomídeos. Não foi encontrado nenhum gecko juvenil infectado por pentastomídeo. Os parâmetros de infecção nesta população de hospedeiros estão de acordo com outros estudos, que indicam altas taxas de parasitismo associadas com os hábitos alimentares de geckos vivendo em domicílios e edificações. Hemidactylus mabouia representa um novo hospedeiro para R. mottae e a infecção por R. frenatus constitui o primeiro registro de ocorrência desta espécie de pentastomídeo no Brasil.

Pentastomid, Raillietiella mottae Almeida, Freire and Lopes, 2008, infecting lizards in an area of caatinga, northeast, Brazil

“…The lowest value was observed in T. hispidus (1.0). This value however, is close to the ones reported for pentastomids in lizards of other Brazilian ecosystems, namely: M. agilis (1.0), C. ocellifer (1.0) and H. mabouia (1.8 ± 1.4) (Vrcibradic et al, 2002b;Dias et al, 2005;Anjos et al, 2008). However, such values differed from those reported by Almeida et al (2008b) for infection intensity of R. mottae in T. hispidus (6.0 ± 1.4, range 5-7).…”

“…All other lizards investigated here showed a range of 13.3-16.6%, close to prevalence values of T. hispidus, except the prevalence of P. periosus that showed a value of 66.7%. Other results reported on pulmonary infection by pentastomids in lizards showed prevalence values lower than those obtained here, namely: Mabuya agilis Raddi, 1823 (3.6-9.0%) (Vrcibradic et al, 2002b), Cnemidophorus abaetensis (6.0%) (Dias et al, 2005), C. ocellifer (2.5%) (Dias et al, 2005), and H. mabouia (9.1%) (Anjos et al, 2008).…”

“…However, data obtained by Almeida et al (2006a;2008a;2008b) indicates that two species of pentastomids, Cephalobaena tetrapoda Heymons, 1922 and Raillietiella furcocerca, should be generalists because of their recorded variety of hosts. Anjos et al (2008) reported only one female of gecko, H. mabouia, parasitized by R. mottae. This isolated case reported by these above-mentioned authors could have resulted from the low sampling they performed.…”

“…Recent publications have included evaluations on infection rates, prevalence, and mean intensity of infection in studies of snakes, amphisbaenians and lizards of the northeastern region of Brazil (Dias et al, 2005;Almeida et al, 2006a;Almeida et al 2006b;Almeida et al 2007;Almeida et al 2008a;Almeida et al 2008b;Anjos et al, 2008), nevertheless, only four lizard species were investigated. Dias et al (2005) reported a likely new species of Raillietiella aff.…”

“…Almeida et al (2008b) investigated infection caused by R. mottae in the lungs of Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825) living in the semi-arid region of Cariri, state of Ceará, northeastern Brazil. Anjos et al (2008) reported Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnès, 1818), a dwelling's invader gecko in the Cariri region (municipality of Barbalha, Ceará state), as a new host of R. mottae. The authors reported in their work, the first occurrence in Brazil of R. frenatus Ali, Riley and Self, 1981 parasitizing H. mabouia. In the present study we evaluate infections caused by pentastomids in an assemblage of lizards living in an area of Caatinga.…”