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Wittman TN, Carlson TA, Robinson CD, Bhave RS, Cox RM. Experimental removal of nematode parasites increases growth, sprint speed, and mating success in brown anole lizards. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART A, ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 337:852-866. [PMID: 35871281 PMCID: PMC9796785 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Parasites interact with nearly all free-living organisms and can impose substantial fitness costs by reducing host survival, mating success, and fecundity. Parasites may also indirectly affect host fitness by reducing growth and performance. However, experimentally characterizing these costs of parasitism is challenging in the wild because common antiparasite drug formulations require repeated dosing that is difficult to implement in free-living populations, and because the extended-release formulations that are commercially available for livestock and pets are not suitable for smaller animals. To address these challenges, we developed a method for the long-term removal of nematode parasites from brown anole lizards (Anolis sagrei) using an extended-release formulation of the antiparasite drug ivermectin. This treatment eliminated two common nematode parasites in captive adult males and dramatically reduced the prevalence and intensity of infection by these parasites in wild adult males and females. Experimental parasite removal significantly increased the sprint speed of captive adult males, the mating success of wild adult males, and the growth of wild juveniles of both sexes. Although parasite removal did not have any effect on survival in wild anoles, parasites may influence fitness directly through reduced mating success and indirectly through reduced growth and performance. Our method of long-term parasite manipulation via an extended-release formulation of ivermectin should be readily adaptable to many other small vertebrates, facilitating experimental tests of the extent to which parasites affect host phenotypes, fitness, and eco-evolutionary dynamics in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler N. Wittman
- Department of BiologyUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesvilleVirginiaUSA
| | - Torun A. Carlson
- Department of BiologyUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesvilleVirginiaUSA
| | | | - Rachana S. Bhave
- Department of BiologyUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesvilleVirginiaUSA
| | - Robert M. Cox
- Department of BiologyUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesvilleVirginiaUSA
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Tillis SB, Iredale ME, Childress AL, Graham EA, Wellehan JFX, Isaza R, Ossiboff RJ. Oral, Cloacal, and Hemipenal Actinomycosis in Captive Ball Pythons (Python regius). Front Vet Sci 2021; 7:594600. [PMID: 33490131 PMCID: PMC7820239 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.594600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Ball pythons (Python regius) are one of the most commonly kept and bred reptiles in captivity. In a large ball python breeding colony, a unique syndrome characterized by granulomatous inflammation of the cloaca and hemipenes (phalli) was observed in 140 of 481 (29.1%) breeding males, but only one of 1,446 breeding females. Lesions were absent in virgin males (n = 201) and virgin females (n = 293). On postmortem examination (n = 13, 12 males, 1 female), numerous well-defined mucosal and submucosal granulomas were present in the hemipenes (males) and cloaca (males and female). Extension into the coelomic cavity and liver was noted in a subset of these animals. An additional small subset of breeder animals (6/2027; 0.3%) presented with oral and mandibular swellings. Postmortem examination (n = 4, all female) showed oral lesions histologically indistinguishable from the cloacal/hemipenal lesions. Aerobic bacterial culture of a hepatic granuloma of one snake resulted in the isolation of filamentous, Gram-positive bacilli; amplification, and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and subsequent phylogenetic analysis of the isolate identified the bacterium as a novel species of Actinomyces. Screening of cloacal and oral granulomas using a specific, heminested 16S rRNA PCR assay confirmed the presence of the agent in all 17 snakes, as well as in cloacal swabs taken at the time of necropsy in 11/13 snakes. The Actinomyces sp. was also identified by PCR of cloacal swabs of unaffected snakes (n = 94) from the affected colony and two unrelated, grossly unaffected breeding colonies. In the affected colony, 65.5% of breeding animals (n = 23) but only 11.9% of virgin animals (n = 42) tested PCR positive, with breeding status being a significant predictor of bacterium presence (P < 0.00001). This study characterizes a granulomatous mucosal disease syndrome of breeding male ball pythons associated with a novel Actinomyces. In stark contrast to male snakes, the presence of the bacterium in both breeding and virgin females was very rarely associated with clinical disease. Though additional studies are necessary, these data suggest a role for the novel bacterium in the disease process, a predilection for clinical disease in male snakes, and the potential for sexual transmission of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven B Tillis
- Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Marley E Iredale
- Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - April L Childress
- Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Erin A Graham
- Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - James F X Wellehan
- Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Ramiro Isaza
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Robert J Ossiboff
- Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
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Reedy AM, Cox CL, Chung AK, Evans WJ, Cox RM. Both sexes suffer increased parasitism and reduced energy storage as costs of reproduction in the brown anole,Anolis sagrei. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Aaron M. Reedy
- Department of Biology; University of Virginia; 485 McCormick Road PO Box 400328 Charlottesville VA 22904 USA
| | - Christian L. Cox
- Department of Biology; Georgia Southern University; P.O. Box 8042 Statesboro GA 30460 USA
| | - Albert K. Chung
- Department of Biology; University of Virginia; 485 McCormick Road PO Box 400328 Charlottesville VA 22904 USA
| | - William J. Evans
- Department of Biology; University of Virginia; 485 McCormick Road PO Box 400328 Charlottesville VA 22904 USA
| | - Robert M. Cox
- Department of Biology; University of Virginia; 485 McCormick Road PO Box 400328 Charlottesville VA 22904 USA
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Mayer M, Brown GP, Zimmermann B, Shine R. High infection intensities, but negligible fitness costs, suggest tolerance of gastrointestinal nematodes in a tropical snake. AUSTRAL ECOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.12235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Martin Mayer
- Faculty of Forestry and Wildlife Management; Hedmark University College; Koppang Norway
| | - Gregory P. Brown
- School of Biological Sciences A08; University of Sydney; NSW Australia
| | - Barbara Zimmermann
- Faculty of Forestry and Wildlife Management; Hedmark University College; Koppang Norway
| | - Richard Shine
- School of Biological Sciences A08; University of Sydney; NSW Australia
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Goldberg SR, Bursey CR, Sullivan KO, Bowker RW, Sullivan BK. Old-World Nematodes in the Ocellated Skink,Chalcides ocellatus(Squamata: Scincidae) Now Established in Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona, U.S.A. COMP PARASITOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1654/4768.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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A new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the brown anole Anolis sagrei Duméril & Bibron (Sauria: Dactyloidae) in Florida, USA. Syst Parasitol 2015; 91:185-9. [PMID: 25962466 DOI: 10.1007/s11230-015-9566-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2014] [Accepted: 03/18/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
During July 2014, 14 brown anoles, Anolis sagrei Duméril & Bibron were collected from Orange County, Florida, USA, and their faeces examined for coccidian parasites. One (7%) lizard harboured an eimerian that we describe here as new. Oöcysts of Eimeria garmani n. sp. were ellipsoidal with a uni-layered wall and measured 19.3 × 12.5 µm, with a length/width ratio of 1.5. A micropyle and oöcyst residuum were absent but 1-2 polar granule(s) were present. Sporocysts were subspheroidal, 6.8 × 6.3 µm, with a length/width ratio of 1.1. Stieda, sub-Stieda and para-Stieda bodies were absent. A sporocyst residuum was present as dispersed granules. Endogenous stages were observed within the small intestine. This is the first coccidian reported from the brown anole and the third eimerian reported from anoles in the United States.
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