Abstract
Between September 1990 and November 1991, 19 Sphenomorphus spp. skinks, including nine S. jobiense, three S. simus, and seven Solomon ground skinks, S. solomonis (Boulenger), were collected from Madang and Morobe Provinces, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and examined for coccidia. A single S. solomonis was found to be infected with a new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875. Oöcysts of Eimeria perkinsae n. sp. are ellipsoidal with a smooth, colourless, bi-layered wall, measure 18.6 × 14.7 μm, and have a length/width (L/W) ratio of 1.3; both micropyle and oöcyst residuum are absent, but a fragmented polar granule is present. Sporocysts are ovoidal, 8.9 × 6.4 μm, L/W 1.4; neither Stieda, sub-Stieda or para-Stieda bodies are present; a sporocyst residuum consisted of a loose cluster of granules dispersed between sporozoites. Sporozoites are comma-shaped with spheroidal anterior and posterior refractile bodies. This represents the first report of coccidia from this skink genus.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the late Steve J. Upton (Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA) for technical assistance, and Scott L. Gardner (Manter Parasite Collection, Lincoln, NE, USA) for parasitological training of RNF. Further appreciation is extended to Patricia A. Pilitt (USNPC) for expert curatorial assistance. The PNG Department of Environment and Conservation supplied export permits to CCA and RNF for the lizard and parasite collections. This work was funded in part by DEB 1146033 to CCA. The use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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McAllister, C.T., Duszynski, D.W., Fisher, R.N. et al. A new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Solomon ground skink, Sphenomorphus solomonis (Boulenger) (Sauria: Scincidae) from Papua New Guinea. Syst Parasitol 87, 83–86 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-013-9455-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-013-9455-2
Keywords
- Polar Granule
- United States National Parasite Collection
- Refractile Body
- Loose Cluster
- Stieda Body