Two hundred and one whiptail lizards, Cnemidophorus spp., from Texas and Colorado (USA), were examined for Mesocestoides sp. tetrathyridia. Eleven (5%) were infected, including three of 58 (5%) C. dixoni, six of 70 (9%) C. gularis septemvittatus, one of 35 (3%) C. marmoratus, and one of 34 (3%) C. tesselatus; four C. inornatus heptagrammus were not infected. In addition, 41 non-cnemidophorine lizards from the same study area were not infected. Free tetrathyridia were found in the body cavity of lizards and encapsulated tetrathyridia were observed in the heart, liver, stomach, mesenteries, ovaries, intestines, and lungs. None of the Mesocestoides sp. exhibited any evidence of asexual proliferation such as multiple scoleces or buds. This note, the fifth in a series of reports on helminths of Cnemidophorus spp., represents the first time Mesocestoides sp. has been reported from these four taxa, and Colorado is a new geographic locality record for this parasite.
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1 July 1991
Helminth Parasites of Unisexual and Bisexual Whiptail Lizards (Teiidae) in North America. V. Mesocestoides sp. Tetrathyridia (Cestoidea: Cyclophyllidea) from Four Species of Cnemidophorus
Chris T. McAllister,
James E. Cordes,
David Bruce Conn,
Jeurel Singleton,
James M. Walker
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Vol. 27 • No. 3
July 1991
Vol. 27 • No. 3
July 1991
Cestoidea
Cnemidophorus spp.
Cyclophyllidea
intensity
Mesocestoides sp.
prevalence
survey