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21 November 2022 Seasonal differences in parasite load in a short-lived lizard
Ko-Huan Lee, Martin J. Whiting, Stephan T. Leu
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Abstract

Parasite load can vary with seasonality, but this is rarely quantified. The garden skink (Lampropholis guichenoti) is host to multiple species of endoparasite. To measure seasonal effects of parasite transmission we established three captive groups of wild-caught individuals in which 2 of 16 individuals (12.5%) were initially infected with nematodes. We collected three faecal samples from each lizard, a sample at the beginning and at the end of the non-activity season and at the end of the following activity season. We measured parasite load (ascarid group) by counting parasite eggs per gram of faeces using a microscope. We found that parasite load was significantly higher in the activity season than in the non-activity season. The prevalence of parasites increased from 15.9% in the non-activity season to 72.5% in the activity season. The activity season is characterised by greater host activity and warmer ambient temperatures, which promote parasite egg survival in the environment as well as egg development. Taken together, this facilitates parasite transmission and could ultimately explain the higher parasite load during the activity season.

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing.
Ko-Huan Lee, Martin J. Whiting, and Stephan T. Leu "Seasonal differences in parasite load in a short-lived lizard," Australian Journal of Zoology 70(1), 36-41, (21 November 2022). https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO22039
Received: 6 May 2022; Accepted: 14 October 2022; Published: 21 November 2022
KEYWORDS
Ascaridae
endoparasite
Lampropholis
life history
nematode
parasitism
reptile
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