Abstract

GONZALEZ-SOLIS, David; DURAN-GOROCICA, Francisco Josué  and  CEDENO-VAZQUEZ, José Rogelio. Parasitic helminths of Boa constrictor (Serpentes: Boidae) in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. [online]. 2014, vol.85, n.3, pp.831-837. ISSN 2007-8706.  https://doi.org/10.7550/rmb.40515.

We report the helminth fauna of Boa constrictor Linnaeus, 1758 in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico. A total of 14 boas were collected in 5 localities from July 2009 to September 2010. The helminthological examination revealed the presence of 133 individuals: 70 nematodes (Contracaecum sp. type 2 larvae of Moravec, Kohn et Fernandes, 1993, Cruzia sp., Kalicephalus subulatus Molin, 1861, Physocephalus sp.), 62 digeneans (Styphlodora horridum [Leidy, 1850]) and 1 unidentified larval acanthocephalan. The nematodes K. subulatus, Physocephalus sp. and Cruzia sp. were the most prevalent; while the remaining helminths showed values lower than 10%. The digenean S. horridum was the most abundant and intense parasite, although it was found in only 1 host. It is suggested that B. constrictor participates as a definitive host for those adult helminths (Cruzia sp., K. subulatus and S. horridum), as a paratenic host (Physocephalus sp.) and as an accidental one (Contracaecum sp. type 2, larval acanthocephalan) for some larval stages. This work represents the first systematic survey on the parasitic helminth fauna of B. constrictor in Quintana Roo; therefore, it includes 3 new (Contracaecum sp. type 2, Cruzia sp., Physocephalus sp.) and 2 geographical records (K. subulatus, S. horridum).

Keywords : snakes; Nematoda; Digenea; Acanthocephala.

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