Hepatozoon caimani in Caiman crocodilus yacare (Crocodylia, Alligatoridae) from North Pantanal, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Bouer,Andréa
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: André,Marcos Rogério, Gonçalves,Luiz Ricardo, Luzzi,Mayara de Cássia, Oliveira,Juliana Paula de, Rodrigues,Adriana Carlos, Varani,Alessandro de Melo, Miranda,Vitor Fernandes Oliveira de, Perles,Lívia, Werther,Karin, Machado,Rosangela Zacarias
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Parasitologia Veterinária (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-29612017000300352
• topic: Caimans; Hepatozoon caimani; morphology; morphometry; molecular characterisation; Brazil

Abstract Hepatozoon species are the most common intracellular hemoparasite found in reptiles. Hepatozoon caimani, whose vectors are Culex mosquitoes, has been detected in a high prevalence among caimans in Brazil by blood smears examinations. The present work aimed to detect and characterize the Hepatozoon spp. found in 33 caimans (24 free-ranging and 9 captive; 28 males and 5 females) (Caiman crocodilus yacare) sampled at Poconé, North Pantanal, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, using blood smears examinations and molecular techniques. Hepatozoon spp.-gametocytes were found in 70.8% (17/24) and 88.8% (8/9) of blood smears from free-ranging and captive caimans, respectively. Hepatozoon spp. 18S rRNA DNA was found in 79.2% (19/24) and 88.8% (8/9) of free-ranging and captive caimans, respectively. Comparative analysis of parasitized and non-parasitized erythrocytes showed that all analyzed features were significantly different (P<0.05) for both linear and area dimensions. Phylogenetic analysis based on 18S rRNA sequences grouped the Hepatozoon spp. sequences detected in the present study together with H. caimani, recently detected in caimans in southern Pantanal.