Jacobson ER, Ossiboff RJ, Paquet-Durand I, Childress AL, Barrett H, Marlin J, McAllister CT, Walden HDS. A NEW COCCIDIAN (APICOMPLEXA: EIMERIIDAE) IN THE CRITICALLY ENDANGERED CENTRAL AMERICAN RIVER TURTLE (DERMATEMYS MAWII) IN BELIZE.
J Parasitol 2022;
108:93-99. [PMID:
35192694 DOI:
10.1645/21-44]
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Abstract
As part of a biannual health examination, coprological samples from 3-mo-old Central American river turtles, Dermatemys mawii (Gray, 1847) in a breeding program in Belize, Central America, revealed a previously undescribed coccidian (Apicomplexa) in 17 of 46 (37%) samples. Of 3 positive fecal samples transported to the University of Florida, coccidian oocysts were observed in 1 sample. Sporulated oocysts were measured and described, and using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), an approximately 400-base pair (bp) region of both the small subunit (18S) ribosomal RNA gene and 1,200-bp region of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene were amplified in all 3 samples and their products were sequenced. For comparative value, the same PCR reactions and amplifications were performed on a fecal sample containing oocysts of Eimeria mitraria obtained from a red-eared slider, Trachemys scripta elegans. Results indicated a new eimerian in D. mawii, Eimeria grayi n. sp.
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