Blood parasites in European legless lizards (Pseudopus apodus) from north of Iran

Subject Areas : Parasitology

Hossein Javanbakht ¹ , Hamidhossein Khezri ²

1 - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
2 - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

Received: 2024-04-16 Accepted : 2024-08-11 Published : 2025-05-05

Keywords: Haemogregarine, Hepatozoon, Karyolysus, Reptile, Blood parasite,

Abstract :

Parasites are a very diverse group of organisms that play a vital role in ecosystems. The Apicomplexa phylum is a large group of obligate intracellular single-celled parasites found in invertebrates and vertebrates. They can infect a wide range of animals from fish to mammals. The present study investigated the Apicomplexan blood parasite in legless lizards, Pseudopus apodus, from the north of Iran. Blood smears of caudal venous blood from 14 legless lizards were collected, prepared by fixation with methanol, and stained with Giemsa for 15 minutes. Morphological examination of the prepared smears by microscope confirmed the presence of species of hemogregarine blood parasites belonging to Hepatozoon ophisauri. This parasite is commonly placed in the concave part of the red blood cell in gametocyte form. Hemoparasites infected 14.2% of lizards. The mean intensity of hemoparasites was 0.084% in each infected individual. In this study, the infection and intensity of hemogregarine parasites were reported from the legless lizard. The intensity of blood parasites compared with Palearctic lacertid lizards was very low. A molecular study with more specimens alongside vectors is needed to identify all hemogregarine parasites in these lizards.

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