<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Studies that seek to understand which factors influence the patterns of infection in the lizard <italic>Coleodactylus meridionalis</italic> are non-existent. In this way, we recorded the infection rates for these lizards from three different sized fragments of the Atlantic rainforest and investigated if there is influence of the size, mass and sex of the host regarding the endoparasite abundance. In addition, we investigated if there were possible associations between the host’s diet and parasitism, by calculating the diet niche breadth (based on the prey number of pooled stomachs) for each host population and comparing the diet between fragments and sexes (from the three sampled fragments). We collected 38 lizards across the three sampled forest fragments. We only found parasites in the lizards sampled from the smallest of the three forest fragments which included: <italic>Physaloptera lutzi</italic>, <italic>Haplometroides odhneri</italic> and <italic>Oligacanthorhynchus</italic> sp. For this population, lizards with greater length and body mass have a greater endoparasite abundance. In addition, based on the results obtained in our study, the diet of the lizards varies in food composition between sampled populations. Finally, knowing that among the infected lizards there is no sexual dimorphism in relation to size and body mass and that the stomach sampling for this population is insufficient to calculate the indexes related to the food niche; we used the number of prey lizards from all populations, thus we were able to associate the fact that female lizards have a greater endoparasite abundance due to variations in food composition between sexes.</p></abstract>

Studies that seek to understand which factors influence the patterns of infection in the lizard Coleodactylus meridionalis are non-existent. In this way, we recorded the infection rates for these lizards from three different sized fragments of the Atlantic rainforest and investigated if there is influence of the size, mass and sex of the host regarding the endoparasite abundance. In addition, we investigated if there were possible associations between the host’s diet and parasitism, by calculating the diet niche breadth (based on the prey number of pooled stomachs) for each host population and comparing the diet between fragments and sexes (from the three sampled fragments). We collected 38 lizards across the three sampled forest fragments. We only found parasites in the lizards sampled from the smallest of the three forest fragments which included: Physaloptera lutzi, Haplometroides odhneri and Oligacanthorhynchus sp. For this population, lizards with greater length and body mass have a greater endoparasite abundance. In addition, based on the results obtained in our study, the diet of the lizards varies in food composition between sampled populations. Finally, knowing that among the infected lizards there is no sexual dimorphism in relation to size and body mass and that the stomach sampling for this population is insufficient to calculate the indexes related to the food niche; we used the number of prey lizards from all populations, thus we were able to associate the fact that female lizards have a greater endoparasite abundance due to variations in food composition between sexes.

Parasitic infection patterns in <italic>Coleodactylus meridionalis</italic> (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) from Atlantic Forest fragments, northeast of the Neotropical Region

Helminthologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Parasitic infection patterns in  (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) from Atlantic Forest fragments, northeast of the Neotropical Region

Studies that seek to understand which factors influence the patterns of infection in the lizard Coleodactylus meridionalis are non-existent. In this way, we...

Parasitic infection patterns in Coleodactylus meridionalis (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) from Atlantic Forest fragments, northeast of the Neotropical Region

Published Online: Dec 25, 2021

Page range: 356 - 363

Received: Feb 21, 2019

Accepted: Oct 14, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2021-0042

Keywords
Helminths, Gecko, Diet, Neotropical Region, Brazil

© 2021 A. A. M. Teixeira, N. K. S. Sampaio, J. A. Araujo-Filho, D. A. Teles, W. O. Almeida, D. O. Mesquita, S. V. Brito, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Parasitic infection patterns in Coleodactylus meridionalis (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) from Atlantic Forest fragments, northeast of the Neotropical Region

Published Online: Dec 25, 2021

Page range: 356 - 363

Received: Feb 21, 2019

Accepted: Oct 14, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2021-0042

KeywordsHelminths, Gecko, Diet, Neotropical Region, Brazil

© 2021 A. A. M. Teixeira, N. K. S. Sampaio, J. A. Araujo-Filho, D. A. Teles, W. O. Almeida, D. O. Mesquita, S. V. Brito, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Helminths, Gecko, Diet, Neotropical Region, Brazil