Blood smears from wild-caught, long-term captive tortoises, Testudo marginata, revealed the presence of gametocytes of a Hemolivia mauritanica–like hemogregarine in the erythrocytes of 72% tortoises examined. Significant parasitemia was also found in animals living several years in captivity. Experimentally infected tortoises showed no evidence of a decrease in parasitemia level more than 15 mo after infection. Morphologically, stages found in tortoises' erythrocytes were indistinguishable from those referred to by previous workers as H. mauritanica from Testudo graeca. Moreover, successful experimental transmission to Hyalomma aegyptium confirms the conspecificity with H. mauritanica. The occurrence of H. mauritanica gametocytes in tortoise living up to 8 yr in captivity is suggested to result from continuous, long-lasting cyclic merogony in tortoises' parenchymatous organs, which is an unknown phenomenon in the life cycle of Hemolivia spp.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
December 2004
LIFE CYCLES-SURVEY|
December 01 2004
LONG-TERM OCCURRENCE OF HEMOLIVIA CF. MAURITANICA (APICOMPLEXA: ADELEINA: HAEMOGREGARINIDAE) IN CAPTIVE TESTUDO MARGINATA (REPTILIA: TESTUDINIDAE): EVIDENCE FOR CYCLIC MEROGONY?
P. Široký;
P. Široký
Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého 1-3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic. [email protected]
Search for other works by this author on:
M. Kamler;
M. Kamler
Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého 1-3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic. [email protected]
* Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého 1-3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic
Search for other works by this author on:
D. Modrý
D. Modrý
Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého 1-3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic. [email protected]
* Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého 1-3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic
† Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
‡ To whom correspondence should be addressed
Search for other works by this author on:
J Parasitol (2004) 90 (6): 1391–1393.
Citation
P. Široký, M. Kamler, D. Modrý; LONG-TERM OCCURRENCE OF HEMOLIVIA CF. MAURITANICA (APICOMPLEXA: ADELEINA: HAEMOGREGARINIDAE) IN CAPTIVE TESTUDO MARGINATA (REPTILIA: TESTUDINIDAE): EVIDENCE FOR CYCLIC MEROGONY?. J Parasitol 1 December 2004; 90 (6): 1391–1393. doi: https://doi.org/10.1645/GE-3306
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.
Sign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionCiting articles via
MOLECULAR AND NEW MORPHOLOGICAL DATA ON NEMATODE HEDRURIS DRATINI FOUND PARASITIZING PSEUDIS MINUTA (ANURA: HYLIDAE)
Martin M. Montes, Yasmin Croci, Jorge Barneche, Dario Balcazar, German F. Reig Cardarella, Sergio R. Martorelli
CLITELLATE (ANNELIDA: CLITELLATA) PARASITES AND PREDATORS OF NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOFAUNA: CHECKLIST OF SPECIES, IDENTIFICATION KEY, AND A NEW RECORD FOR MEXICO
Manuel De Luna, Roberto García-Barrios, Diane P. Barton, Leonardo García-Vázquez
LOUSY ASSOCIATIONS: SUCKING LICE (PHTHIRAPTERA: ANOPLURA) PARASITIZING RODENTS AND LAGOMORPHS IN THE DESERT NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, NEVADA
Sara B. Weinstein, John P. Dumbacher, Lance A. Durden
A NEW SPECIES OF ACANTHOBOTHRIUM (CESTODA: ONCHOPROTEOCEPHALIDEA), PARASITE OF THE GIANT ELECTRIC RAY NARCINE ENTEMEDOR JORDAN AND STARKS, 1895 (BATOIDEA: TORPEDINIFORMES) FROM MEXICO
Erick Rodríguez-Ibarra, Berenice Adán-Torres, Fernando Ruiz-Escobar, Gerardo Torres-Carrera
SEROPREVALENCE OF TOXOPLASMA GONDII IN GOATS FROM SOUTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI, USA
Alexander D. W. Acholonu, Jamela S. Alexander