Endoparasites of Crotalus tzabcan (Serpentes: Viperidae), with a checklist in rattlesnakes

• Published in: Journal of parasitic diseases Vol. 42; no. 2; pp. 303 - 314
• Main Authors: Carbajal-Márquez, Rubén Alonso, González-Solís, David, Cedeño-Vázquez, J. Rogelio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01-06-2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Crotalus; Endoparasites; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Infectious Diseases; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nematodes; New records; Original; Original Article; Parasites; Porocephalus crotali; Species richness; Platyhelminthes; Acanthocephala; Yucatán Peninsula; Nematoda; Pentastomida; Sistrurus; Crotalus
• ISSN: 0971-7196; 0975-0703
• DOI: 10.1007/s12639-018-1001-3

The helminth and pentastomid fauna of 50 specimens of
Crotalus tzabcan
from the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico is documented. The examination revealed the presence of three nematode species (
Hastospiculum onchocercum
,
Hexametra boddaertii
, and
Travassosascaris araujoi
), and one pentastomid (
Porocephalus crotali
). The threee nematode species had the same prevalence (2%), while the pentastomid had a higher prevalence (8%). The pentastomid
P. crotali
was the most abundant and intense parasite, although it was only found in four snake hosts.
Crotalus tzabcan
acts as definitive host for the adult helminths and pentastomids, with rodents as the probable intermediate hosts. This work represents the first systematic survey on the parasitic helminth and pentastomid fauna of
C. tzabcan
, and includes four new geographical records. Additionally, a checklist of helminths and pentastomids reported for
Crotalus
and
Sistrurus
is provided. To date, a total of 32 helminth and 7 pentastomid species have been recorded as parasites of rattlesnakes. Nematoda possessed the highest species richness. The genera with the highest number of host species were
Mesocestoides
and
Hexametra
, followed by
Kalicephalus
. The rattlesnake species with the highest number of reported parasites was
C. durissus
(18 nematodes and 2 pentastomids).