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Description of the Oocysts of Three New Species of Eimeria (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from Iguanid Lizards (Sauria: Iguanidae) of Central and South America
Vol. 93(4): 471-475
P Daszak+, SJ Ball
School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT1 2EE, U.K.
Three new species of Eimeria are described from iguanid lizards of Central and South America. The oocysts of each species have no micropyles or residua and the sporocysts lack Stieda bodies, but all have a sporocyst residuum. Eimeria sanctaluciae n.sp. was found in the St. Lucia tree lizard, Anolis luciae, collected from the Maria Islands, Lesser Antilles. The oocysts are spherical to subspherical, averaging 17.3 x 16.5 µm, with a single layered colourless wall; about 60% contain polar granules. The sporocysts are ellipsoidal and average 7.7 x 5.5 µm. Eimeria liolaemi n.sp. was recovered from the blue-gold swift, Liolaemus taenius, from Chile. The oocysts are spherical to subspherical, measuring 21 x 20.1 µm with a single-layered colourless wall. The sporocysts are subspherical and average 7.4 x 6.8 µm. Eimeria caesicia n.sp. is described from the Brazilian collared iguanid, Tropidurus torquatus. The oocysts measure 27.4 x 23.7 µm, are spherical to subspherical, with a bilayered wall, the outer surface of which appears pale blue in colour, the thin, inner wall appearing brown, when viewed by direct light under the optical microscope. The sporocysts are subspherical and average 9.4 x 7.2 µm. Unnamed polysporocystid oocysts with dizoic sporocysts are reported from the faeces of the lesser St. Vincent tree lizard, Anolis trinitatis and the possibility of spurious parasitism briefly discussed. In addition, oocysts of an unnamed Isospora sp. with a smooth oocyst wall which closely resembles I. reui were recovered from A. trinitatis.
Key words: Coccidia - Apicomplexa - Eimeriidae - Reptilia - Sauria - Iguanidae
At least 16 species of Eimeria have been named from members of the family Iguanidae (Bastardo de San José 1974, Matuschka & Bannert 1987, Aquino-Shuster et al. 1990, Daszak & Ball 1991, Cisper et al. 1995). During the past five years we have had the opportunity to examine newly imported lizards, as well as lizards collected during two expeditions to the Maria Islands, Lesser Antilles. This work has yielded three new species of Eimeria from iguanids.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Animals were housed individually or only with members of the same species immediately after capture and up to the point of collection of faeces for the present study. Containers were sterilised prior to use with 10% aqueous sodium hypochlorite (Clorox®) for 10 min. Faecal samples were placed in 2.5% potassium dichromate and examined by direct, wet mounts. Oocysts were photographed on a Zeiss photomicroscope III using Nomarski differential interference contrast optics. The oocysts and sporocysts were measured and compared with those already reported from the family Iguanidae. Mean oocyst lengths and widths are given with standard deviations, ranges in parentheses and all measurements in micrometres.
To Robert Baltrock and Bradley Whinfield of "The Vivarium", Walthamstow, London, UK and Simon King of "King's Reptiles", Camden, London, UK, for allowing access to their collections of captive reptiles. To Dr Dave Corke, University of East London and the 1993 expedition team (funded in part by the Royal Geographical Society) who collected faecal samples from St. Lucian lizards. The specimen of Liolaemus taenius was kindly loaned by Dr JD Cottingham of Serologicals Inc., Atlanta, USA. The specimen of Tropidurus torquatus was kindly loaned by Duncan Kennedy, Chris Hallett and Hazel Palmer of the University of East London.
+Corresponding author. Fax: +44-181-547-7562. E-mail: P.Daszak@Kingston.ac.uk
Received 10 November 1997
Accepted 17 April 1998
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