New records of Hepatozoon and Oswaldofilaria from saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) in Australia

Autor: T. Franciscus Scheelings, Anson V. Koehler, Robin B. Gasser
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, Vol 23, Iss , Pp 100926- (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2213-2244
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2024.100926
Popis: Diseases affecting wild Australian saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) are rarely reported due to the difficulty in capturing animals and obtaining samples. In this investigation, we identified two haemoparasites (Hepatozoon and a filarial nematode) in saltwater crocodiles in Darwin, Australia. Light microscopic examination identified Hepatozoon in 7/7 (100%) wild crocodiles and in 2/20 (10%) of captive ones. When genomic DNAs from these same samples were further investigated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based sequencing, we detected Hepatozoon in all 27 blood samples. Using both microscopy and PCR-based sequencing, we detected a filarial worm (proposed to be Oswaldofilaria) in one of 20 captive crocodiles. The sequence data were compared with sequence data available in public databases, and phylogenetic analyses indicated that the operational taxonomic units of Hepatozoon and Oswaldofilaria discovered here in these crocodiles are likely new species. This study is the first to use molecular tools to explore haemoparasites in Australian saltwater crocodiles and highlights the importance of health investigations in poorly studied vertebrate hosts.
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