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Further characterisation of Haemocystidium chelodinae-like Haemoproteidae isolated from the Bellinger River snapping turtle (Myuchelys georgesi)

  • Protozoology - Original Paper
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Abstract

The Bellinger River snapping turtle (Myuchelys georgesi) is endemic to Australia and is confined to a highly restricted distribution in the Bellinger River in New South Wales. Routine veterinary health examinations of 17 healthy turtles were undertaken, along with the collection and analysis of blood samples, during conservation efforts to save the species following a catastrophic population decline. Microscopy analysis of blood films detected Haemoproteidae parasites that morphologically resembled Haemocystidium chelodinae inside turtle erythrocytes. Of the 17 turtles examined, 16 were positive for infection with H. chelodinae by both light microscopy and PCR. DNA sequencing of a partial fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene and phylogenetic analysis identified two different H. chelodinae-like genotypes. The phylogenetic relationship of H. chelodinae-like to other Haemoproteidae species based on cytb sequences grouped H. chelodinae-like into the reptile clade, but revealed the Haemocystidium genus to be paraphyletic as the clade also contained Haemoproteus, thus supporting a re-naming of Haemoproteus species from reptiles to Haemocystidium species. This study reports for the first time the genetic characterisation of H. chelodinae-like organisms isolated from a new Testudine host species, the Bellinger River snapping turtle. As evidence grows, further research will be necessary to understand the mode of transmission and to investigate whether these parasites are pathogenic to their hosts.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge staff of the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, particularly Gerry McGilvray and Shane Ruming for their coordination of the Bellinger River snapping Turtle emergency response and conservation program. We also acknowledge Dr Karrie Rose for her veterinary expertise and advice and for conducting health examinations of the animals used in this study. The intellectual contribution of Professor Peter O’Donoghue is also acknowledged. We would like to thank Adam Skidmore for his continued work into monitoring and safeguarding the Bellinger River snapping turtle.

Funding

The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW Department of Primary Industries, NSW Local Lands Services, Western Sydney University and Taronga Conservation Society Australia provided considerable financial and logistical support to the conservation efforts to save the Bellinger River snapping turtle.

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Author notes

  1. Alexander Goften

    Present address: Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, ACT, Canberra, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vector and Waterborne Pathogens Research Group, College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Perth, 6150, Australia

    Jill M. Austen, Alireza Zahedi, Alexander Goften & Una Ryan

  2. Australian Registry of Wildlife Health, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, PO Box 20, Mosman, New South Wales, 2088, Australia

    Jane Hall

Authors
  1. Jill M. Austen
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  3. Alireza Zahedi
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  4. Alexander Goften
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jill M. Austen.

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Ethics approval

Animals were collected under NSW Office of Environment and Heritage Scientific License (SL101647), and General Licence MWL000102467 (Section 120 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974).

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Austen, J.M., Hall, J., Zahedi, A. et al. Further characterisation of Haemocystidium chelodinae-like Haemoproteidae isolated from the Bellinger River snapping turtle (Myuchelys georgesi). Parasitol Res 119, 601–609 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06547-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06547-9

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