Morphological characterization of fluke eggs in green turtles (Chelonia mydas) found on the coast of Espírito Santo State, Brazil
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Although some studies have identified parasites in green turtles (Chelonia mydas), little is known about the morphology of helminth eggs in the feces of these animals. The aim of this study was to morphologically characterize helminth eggs recovered in coproparasitological exams by sedimentation and to analyze their relationship with helminth species recovered during necropsy of juvenile specimens of C. mydas. Four different egg morphotypes were found, identified, and classified as digenetic trematodes of the families Microscaphidiidae, Cladorchiidae, and Spirorchiidae. There was morphological diversity in the size of the eggs measured directly in adult parasites, with sizes ranging from 19.07 to 99.28 μm in length and from 11.35 to 45.66 μm in width. The observation of eggs on coproparasitological exams is important for studying the ecology of sea turtle parasites, since the life cycle of some species is not yet fully understood.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This is an open access article distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, which allows you to share and adapt the work, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Figures, tables and other elements in the article are included in the article’s CC BY 4.0 license, unless otherwise indicated. The journal title is protected by copyrights and not subject to this license. Full license deed can be viewed here.
Metrics
References
Binoti E, Gomes MC, De Calais Junior A, Werneck MR, Martins IVF, Boeloni JN. 2016. Helminth fauna of Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758) in the south of the Espírito Santo state in Brasil. Helminthologia. 53(2):195–199.
https://doi.org/10.1515/helmin-2016-0012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/helmin-2016-0012
Chapman PA, Cribb TH, Flint M, Traub RJ, Blair D, Kyaw-Tanner MT, Mills PC. 2019. Spirorchiidiasis in marine turtles: the current state of knowledge. Dis Aquat Org. 133(3):217–245.
https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03348 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03348
Chapman PA, Owen H, Flint M, Soares-Magalhães RJ, Traub RJ, Cribb TH, Kyaw-Tanner MT, Mills PC. 2017. Molecular epidemiology and pathology of spirorchiid infection in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 6(1):39–47.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2017.03.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2017.03.001
Fernandes BMM, Kohn A. 2014. South American trematodes parasites of amphibians and reptiles. Rio de Janeiro: Oficina de Livros. 228 p.
Foreyt WJ. 2005. Parasitologia Veterinária. São Paulo: Roca. 240 p.
Gomes MC, Martins IVF, Werneck MR, Pavanelli L. 2017. Ecologia da comunidade de helmintos gastrointestinais de tartarugasverdes (Chelonia mydas) recolhidas no litoral do Espírito Santo = Community ecology of gastrointestinal helminths from green turtles (Chelonia mydas) collected in the coast of Espírito Santo. Arq Bras Med Vet Zootec. 69(3):644–650.
https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4162-9039 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4162-9039
Greiner EC. 2013. Parasites of marine turtle. In: Wyneken J, Lohmann KJ, Musick JA (eds.), The Biology of Sea Turtles. Florida: CRC Press. p. 425–444. Greiner EC, Mader DR. 2006. Parasitology. In: Mader DR (ed.), Reptile Medicine and Surgery. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier. p. 343–345. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-72-169327-X/50025-0
Jerdy H, Werneck M, Goldberg D, Baldassin P, Feriolli R, Maranho A, Ribeiro R, Bianchi M, Ribeiro L, Shimoda E, et al. 2019. Ocular spirorchiidiosis in sea turtles from Brazil. J Helminthol. 94:E56.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022149X1900049X DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022149X1900049X
Marangi M, Carlino P, Profico C, Olivieri V, Totaro G, Furii G, Marzano G, Papini RA. 2020. First multicenter coprological survey on helminth parasite communities of free-living loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) from the Adriatic Sea and Northern Ionian Sea. Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 11:207–212.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2020.02.006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2020.02.006
Santoro M, Greiner EC, Morales JA, Rodríguez-Ortíz B. 2006. Digenetic trematode community in nesting green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) from Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica. J Parasitol. 92(6):1202–1206.
https://doi.org/10.1645/GE-866R.1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1645/GE-866R.1
Santoro M, Greiner EC, Morales JA, Rodríguez-Ortíz B. 2007a. A new pronocephalid, Pleurogonius tortugueroi n. sp. (Digenea), from the intestine of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Costa Rica. Parassitologia. 49(1–2):97–100.
Santoro M, Marchiori E, Cassini R, Drigo M, Iaccarino D, Di Nocera F, Degli-Uberti B, De Luca G, D’Amore M, Centelleghe C, et al. 2020. Epidemiology of blood flukes (Digenea: Spirorchiidae) in sea turtles from Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas, off Italy. Parasites Vectors. 13:52.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-3922-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-3922-9
Santoro M, Morales JA, Rodríguez-Ortíz B. 2007b. Spirorchiidiosis (Digenea: Spirorchiidae) and lesions associated with parasites in Caribbean green turtles (Chelonia mydas). Vet Rec. 161(14):482–486.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.161.14.482 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.161.14.482
Stacy BA, Chapman PA, Foley AM, Greiner EC, Herbst LH, Bolten AB, Klein PA, Manire CA, Jacobson ER. 2017. Evidence of diversity, site, and host specificity of sea turtle blood flukes (Digenea: Schistosomatoidea: “Spirorchiidae”): a molecular prospecting study. J Parasitol. 103(6):756–767.
https://doi.org/10.1645/16-31 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1645/16-31
Werneck MR. 2007. Helmintofauna de Chelonia mydas necropsiadas na Base do Projeto Tamar-Ibama em Ubatuba, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil [MSc thesis]. [Botucatu (SP)]: Universidade Estadual Paulista. 50 p.
Werneck MR, Silva RJ. 2015. Helminth parasites of juvenile green turtles Chelonia mydas (Testudines, Cheloniidae) in Brazil. J Parasitol. 101(6):713–716.
https://doi.org/10.1645/15-780 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1645/15-780
Work TM, Balazs GH, Schumacher JL, Marie A. 2005. Epizootiology of spirorchiid infection in green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Hawaii. J Parasitol. 91(4):871–876.
https://doi.org/10.1645/GE-454R.1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1645/GE-454R.1