Cysts and larvae of Strongyluris: A parasite of amphibians and reptiles found in an urban population of Lissachatina fulica (Férussac, 1821) in southern Brazil.

We report the finding of cysts and larvae of Strongyluris in specimens of L. fulica from an urban area of the municipality of Maringá in northern Paraná State, southern Brazil. Thirty-seven young adult snails were collected at three sites: 15 in riparian forest; 14 in a vegetable garden; and eight in a residential garden. We found a total of 16 cysts with nematode larvae in three of the 15 snails collected in riparian forest. The parasites were identified as larvae of the genus Strongyluris, which are parasites of the gastrointestinal tract of amphibians and reptiles. Lissachatina fulica is established in urban areas of 33% of the municipalities of the state of Paraná. The species has spread rapidly through the urban area of the municipality of Maringá, which may contribute to the transmission of nematode larvae of medical and veterinary interest to humans and other animals.

Occurrence of Isopods in Two Species of Snappers (Lutjanidae) from Northeast Brazil.

Parasitic isopod species are poorly known in the northeastern coast of Brazil. In this sense, this study presents novel records of Isopoda of the families Aegidae, Cymothoidae, and Corallanidae. A total 69 specimens of Lutjanus analis and 19 of Lutjanus jocu, of which 46 isopods from 3 different species were collected, i.e. Rocinela signata, Cymothoa excisa, and Excorallana richardsoni. The species R. siganata and E. richardsoni are reported for the first time in L. jocu. A significant relationship between the parasite R. signata and the size of the fish L. jocu was also observed. The isopod C. excisa is considered an incidental finding in L. analis. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of this species in fish from Brazil. The three species of isopods are new occurrences in the State of Sergipe, northeast region of the country. An additional morphological characteristic observed in the dorsal setae of pleotelson in specimens of E. richardsoni was that one end of this structure wws bifid. This information contributes to the current body of knowledge of the morphology of this particular species.

Parasitism by larval tapeworms genus Spirometra in South American amphibians and reptiles: new records from Brazil and Uruguay, and a review of current knowledge in the region.

Spargana are plerocercoid larvae of cestode tapeworms of the genus Spirometra, Family Diphyllobothriidae, parasitic to frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals. This parasitic disease in humans can be transmitted through the use and consumption of amphibians and reptiles. The available knowledge about Spirometra in South America is scarce, and there are only a few reports on the occurrence of sparganum in amphibians and reptiles, many of them published in old papers not easily available to researchers. In this work we present a review on this topic, provide new records in two species of amphibians and 7 species of reptiles from Brazil and Uruguay respectively. We also summarize current knowledge of Spirometra in the continent, along with an updated of host taxonomy. We could gather from the literature a total of 15 studies about amphibian and reptile hosts, published between 1850 and 2016, corresponding to 43 case reports, mostly from Brazil (29) and Uruguay (8), Argentina (3), Peru (2), and Venezuela (1); the majority of them related to reptiles (five lizards and 26 snake species), and 14 corresponded to amphibians (9 anurans). Plerocercoid larvae were located in different organs of the hosts, such as subcutaneous tissue, coelomic cavity, peritoneum, and musculature. The importance of amphibians and reptiles in the transmission of the disease to humans in South America is discussed. Relevant issues to be studied in the near future are the taxonomic characterization of Spirometra in the region and the biological risk of reptile meat for aboriginal and other rural communities.