Relationships between helminth communities and host traits inPodarcis bocageiandPodarcis carbonellifrom NW Portugal

Abstract

A parasitological survey was carried out to determine the relationships between helminth fauna and some biological traits of two host species of lacertid lizards. Size, sex, diet, and season of collection, as well as infracommunities and component communities of Podarcis bocagei and P. carbonelli from Douro litoral (northwest Portugal), have been analysed. In both host species, we found low values of parasite infection parameters and diversity. These findings were in accordance with their feeding habits, eating only animal prey and no plant matter. Evidences suggest a relationship between the presence of Brachylaima sp (Trematoda: Brachylaimidae) and the ingestion of snails by both lizard species. Spauligodon carbonelli (Nematoda, Pharyngodonidae), a specialist in Podarcis hosts, was the most important parasite, affecting mainly adult males with a prevalence of infection showing seasonal variation.

Research Note. The first helminth study on Brandt’s Persian Lizard Iranolacerta brandtii (De Filippi, 1863) (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Van Province, Turkey

“…Because they are poikilothermic animals, the environmental condi- tions limit the recruitment of potential parasite helminths, and the development of the parasitic community is affected by the feeding rates, as well as the forage behavior. (Aho, 1990) Besides all this, low infection rates and low species richness are correlated with a strictly entomophagous diet in many studies (Roca et al, 1989;Galdón et al, 2006;Roca et al, 2006). Until this time, there have been many studies on the helminth fauna of reptile species in Turkey.…”

Helminth fauna of Lebanon Lizard,Phoenicolacerta laevis(Gray, 1838), (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Southern Turkey

“…(metacercariae) Species of Brachylaima are parasites that often exhibit a triheteroxenous terrestrial life cycle in which molluscs serve as fi rst and second intermediate hosts and amphibians and reptiles may harbor unencysted metaceraria, before reaching the defi nitive hosts, birds and mammals. Adults are parasites of the small intestine of birds and mammals (Yamaguti, 1958) metacercaria in Reptilia , Roca & Hornero, 1994Galdon et al, 2006;Roca et al, 2006). We found this species in only one infected host lizard (3 %) from Hatay province.…”

Parasite specificity in Podarcis bocagei and P. carbonelli (Lacertidae) from NW Portugal: a host-parasite history

“…Ecological factors favour the encounter and facilitates the flow of the life cycle of those parasites and so they show an ecological host specificity (Ortega-Mora Rojo-Vázquez, 2007). Since both hosts show similar eating behaviour (strict carnivores, Roca et al, 2006), an ethological specificity should also be considered (Ortega-Mora & Rojo-Vázquez, loc. cit.).…”

“…The more interesting helminth species regarding the relationships with their hosts is S. carbonelli. Its life cycle is direct, which means that the host lizards are infested through accidental ingestion of eggs that are associated with the substrate or adhered to the cloaca region of their hosts (Roca et al, 2006). So, why is the parasite present in P. bocagei but not in P. carbonelli?…”

“…Therefore, are ethological conditions determining the presence of the parasite in a host but not in the other? Roca et al (2006) pointed out that both host species are parasitized by S. carbonelli in other areas of NW Portugal and suggested that variation in the prevalence of infection of both hosts is due to local environmental conditions rather than to ethological differences between the two species, or to host specificity. However, this does not explain the absence of this nematode in P. carbonelli in the syntopic area.…”