Search

Snakes have diverse feeding and living habits, being exposed to a variety of endoparasite communities. However, more studies are still necessary to document these relationships. We examined 18 specimens of the cat-eyed snake Leptodeira annulata from a semi-arid region in Northeast Brazil. Eight taxa of parasites were found, with higher prevalence of cystacanths (Acanthocephala). Five nematode species (Hexametra boddaertii, Oswaldocruzia sp., Oxyascaris sp., Physaloptera sp. and Raillietnema spectans) and the pentastome Raillietiella furcocerca represent a new parasitism record for the host studied. Our results also showed that L. annulata could act as paratenic host for acanthocephalans. These results contribute to the knowledge of the helminth fauna of L. annulata.

Summary Chrysocyon brachyurus, the largest South American canid, is a native species of the Brazilian cerrado. The present study is aimed to report the occurrence of the trematode, Athesmia foxi, in the liver of a new host, C. brachyurus, and to describe its morphology and pathology. One C. brachyurus individual was necropsied and examined for the presence of parasites. Worms were collected from the bile ducts and based on morphological and morphometrical characteristics, such as a relatively large, slender, aspinose, elongated shape with vitellarium present on the upper left side of the body were identified as A. foxi. On the host, hepatic lesions limited to the bile ducts and periportal regions, were characterized as chronic-active cholangitis, biliary hyperplasia, and fibrosis. This is the first report of A. foxi parasitizing C. brachyurus, demonstrating that this parasite has no host specificity and can be widely distributed. A. foxi lesions noted in C. brachyurus are similar to those noted in various other mammalian hosts.