Morphologic and morphometric analysis of Hepatozoon spp. (Apicomplexa, Hepatozoidae) of snakes

Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz

Tatiana Cristina Moço²  Lucia Helena O'dwyer²  Fabiana Custódio Vilela¹  Thomaz Henrique Barrella¹  Reinaldo José Da Silva² 

[1] ,Unesp Instituto de Biociências Departamento de ParasitologiaBotucatu SP ,Brasil

关键词: Hepatozoon;    parasites;    snakes;    morphometry;    morphology;    erythrocytes;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0074-02762002000800019

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Hepatozoon species are the most abundant hemoparasites of snakes. Its identification has been based mainly on the morphologic characterization of the gamonts in the peripheral blood of the vertebrate host and also of the cysts found in the internal organs of the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Using a computerized image analysis system, we studied five species of Hepatozoon from recently captured snakes in Botucatu, State of São Paulo, Brazil, to evaluate the importance of the morphology and morphometry of the gamonts for the characterization of Hepatozoon species and to analyze the morphologic changes induced in the erythrocytes by the parasite. The studied species were H. terzii of Boa constrictor amarali, Hepatozoon sp. of Crotalus durissusterrificus, H. philodryasi of Philodryas patagoniensis, and H. migonei and H. cyclagrasi of Hydrodynastes gigas. We observed three different groups, one of them including the species H. terzii, H. philodryasi and Hepatozoon sp. of C. durissus terrificus; and the other two consisting of H. migonei and H. cyclagrasi. Degree of alterations in the erythrocytes was variable and it may be useful for characterization of Hepatozoon species.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
 All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License