Occurrence of the mite Ophionyssus natricis (Acari: Macronyssidae) on captive snakes from Panama

R.J Miranda,M.A Perotti,J.E Cleghorn,S.E Bermúdez

doi:10.1051/acarologia/20164161

Abstract

We report for the first time the presence of the snake mite, Ophionyssus natricis (Gervais) (Mesostigmata: Macronyssidae) on captive snakes kept in Panama City, Panama. This occurrence adds a new record to the geographical distribution of O. natricis as well as confirming its high prevalence on captive reptiles. Several Boidae species, Boa constrictor, Epicrates maurus, Corallus ruschenbergerii, Corallus caninus and a Pythonidae, Python regius were found infested with intensities varying from 10 to 2200 mites each. These findings represent the second record of O. natricis for Central America.

Highlights

383 411 485 1279 426 53 100 collections of reptiles, especially due to its ability to spread fast from a single parasitized animal to others in the same enclosure or nearby (Rodríguez and Lazcano, 1992)
Despite being pests of specific reptile hosts, O. natricis can opportunistically move to other hosts, like other blood sucking mites do, in the domestic environment, e.g. like those in the families Macronyssidae, Dermanyssidae and Laelapidae (O’Donel Alexander, 1984), and whenever there is a shortage of food or the infestation is too severe, implying high competition for resources, the mites are able to affect humans, such as pet owners, keepers and handlers of infested snakes (Hoppman and Wilson, 2007; Rataj et al, 2011; Amanatfard et al, 2014)
Ophionyssus natricis was first described from native European snakes and later became associated with captive reptiles of different biogeographical regions (Fain, 1962; Domrow, 1985; Fain and Bannert, 2000; Paredes-León et al, 2008), with just a handful of papers mentioning infestation of wild snakes (Yunker, 1956, Simonov and Zinchenko, 2010)

Summary

Introduction

383 411 485 1279 426 53 100 collections of reptiles, especially due to its ability to spread fast from a single parasitized animal to others in the same enclosure or nearby (Rodríguez and Lazcano, 1992). Bites of O. natricis cause damages on the skin of captive reptiles, and if the level of infestation is high enough or out of control, it will lead to irritation, anemia and even death (Beck and Pantchev, 2006, Hoppman and Wilson, 2007, Rataj et al, 2011).

Results

Conclusion