Abstract
Pentastomids can infect the respiratory tract of lizards, causing their death and as a result influencing the population size of hosts. Despite this, studies on rates of pulmonary infection of Brazilian lizards, including those living in Caatinga ecosystems of northeastern Brazil are scarce. Active collections of lizards were performed from October to December 2004 in an area of Caatinga of the Estação Experimental de São João do Cariri -- EESJC (07 masculine 25' S and 36 masculine 30' W), located in the state of Paraíba, Northeast of Brazil. Forty-five lizards inhabiting granite outcrops in an area of Caatinga were captured, belonging to the following species: Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825) (18 individuals), T. semitaeniatus (Spix, 1825) (15 individuals), Phyllopezus periosus Rodrigues, 1986 (6 individuals), and P. pollicaris (Spix, 1825) (6 individuals). Laboratory examination revealed that all species had some degree of pulmonary infection caused by Raillietiella mottae. The highest rates of prevalence (66.7%) and mean intensity of infection (5.25 +/- 2.01, range of 2-11) were observed in P. periosus. The results obtained in this study show that lizards of the Brazilian semi-arid region are infected by a generalist species of pentastomid. The most likely cause for such pattern is the similarity in lizards' diets (ants and termites). It is particularly noteworthy that T. semitaeniatus, P. periosus, and P. pollicaris represent new host records for R. mottae.
Highlights
Brazil still holds one of the most significant biological diversities in the world, with a herpetofauna represented by a great number of species described (Rodrigues, 2005)
Almeida et al (2008b) investigated infection caused by R. mottae in the lungs of Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825) living in the semi-arid region of Cariri, state of Ceará, northeastern Brazil
Forty-five lizards were captured, being 18 individuals of the species T. hispidus, 15 of T. semitaeniatus (Spix, 1825), 6 of P. periosus Rodrigues, 1986, and 6 of P. pollicaris. All species had their lungs infected by only one species of pentastomid, R. mottae (Table 1; Figure 1)
Summary
Brazil still holds one of the most significant biological diversities in the world, with a herpetofauna represented by a great number of species described (Rodrigues, 2005). Recent publications have included evaluations on infection rates, prevalence, and mean intensity of infection in studies of snakes, amphisbaenians and lizards of the northeastern region of Brazil (Dias et al, 2005; Almeida et al, 2006a; Almeida et al 2006b; Almeida et al 2007; Almeida et al 2008a; Almeida et al 2008b; Anjos et al, 2008), only four lizard species were investigated. Almeida et al (2008b) investigated infection caused by R. mottae in the lungs of Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825) living in the semi-arid region of Cariri, state of Ceará, northeastern Brazil. It is addressed here i) the composition of pentastomid fauna and ii) rates of infection (prevalence and intensity)
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