NEW RECORD OF ABBREVIATA LEPTOSOMA GERVAIS, 1848 (SPIRURIDA: PHYSALOPTERIDAE) INFECTION IN TWO SPECIES OF LIZARDS IN NORTH AND SOUTH SINAI, EGYPT

Abstract

Studies on parasitic nematode infection in lizards are rare, and the available literature on their accurate morphological description especially by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is lacking. Therefore, the aim of the present work isto identify new records of nematode parasites infecting Agamidae lizards, which are widely distributed in North and South Sinai; this entails giving a full morphological picture using light microscopy and SEM. Seventeen samples of Trapelus mutabilisand ten samples of Pseudotrapelus sinaitus (collected from North and South Sinai) were dissected and examined for their nematode parasitic infection. Adult nematodes were collected from the stomach and the upper part of the small intestine, identified, and fully described using light microscopy and SEM. Abbreviata leptosoma was collected for the first time from Egyptian T. mutabilis and P. sinaitus in a prevalence of 11.8% and 30.0% with mean intensity ± standard deviation equals 8.5±7.8 and 4.3±3.2, respectively. A. leptosoma was identified based on the morphological characteristics of both male and female including the cephalic denticulation with 5-8 elements between submedian teeth and lateral tooth, absence of denticulate crest at the dorsal and ventral angles of the mouth, presences of two branched uteri and very unequal dissimilar spicules. The study gives a full SEM description of A. leptosoma.Thus,North and South Sinai are considered as new geographical localities for A. leptosoma infecting Agamidae lizards.