Abstract
A Plasmodium sp. and a haemogregarine were found in Giemsa-stained blood smears of a Rhacodactylus leachianus, an endemic New Caledonian gekkonid lizard. Both parasites were observed in mature erythrocytes only. The haemogregarines were found in a lateral position and the stages of Plasmodium sp. were polar or lateropolar in the cells. Mature schizonts of the latter were often fan-shaped, producing 4–10 merozoites. This is the first record of blood parasites in a New Caledonian vertebrate and the first record of a Plasmodium from a carphodactyline gecko. The Plasmodium sp. is unlike those described from Australian or New Zealand lizards, but is referable to the subgenus Lacertamoeba. The biogeographic affinities of these parasites remain unclear and may reflect either ancient Gondwanan affinities or more recent southeast Asian connections via more highly vagile lizard invaders of New Caledonia.
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