Studying the brown anole (Anolis sagrei) in Taiwan has presented me with numerous new opportunities, one of which is an introduction into parasitology.
A Kiricephalus pattoni nymph under the skin of a female brown anole (Anolis sagrei), collected in southwestern Taiwan.
The first parasites I found in A. sagrei in Taiwan were relatively large worm-like parasites that are often visible as a lump under the skin of the lizard. Unfortunately, my first samples were lost by the person I had sent them to for identification. But luckily, I found some more, and with the assistance of C.R. Bursey and S.R. Goldberg, the parasites were identified as the nymphs of the pentastome, Kiricephalus pattoni. Together we reported A. sagrei as a new host of this parasite in Taiwan (Norval et al., 2009).
The nematode, Cyrtosomum penneri, taken from a brown anole (Anolis sagrei), collected in southwestern Taiwan.
In our most recent parasite related publication (Norval et al., 2011), another parasite, the nematode, Cyrtosomum penneri shed some more light on the history of A. sagrei in Taiwan. A study by Kolbe et al. (2004) showed that A. sagrei from Hawaii and Taiwan originated from Florida, but could not indicate if the introductions were related. Since the nematodes Cyrtosomum scelopori and Physaloptera squamatae were recorded in previous studies done on A. sagrei in Hawaii, but were absent from A. sagrei in our study, and because the dominant nematode (C. penneri) from our study, was not recorded in Hawaii, it seems that the introduction of A. sagrei in these two localities were isolated incidents (… and who said only a little bird can tell you something?).
However, now it must be determined if C. penneri can become established in native Taiwanese lizards, and at the same time it would be interesting to know if A. sagrei will acquire any more of the native parasites.
- They Simply Don’t Get It: Misguided Conservation Policies in Taiwan Continue to Promote Anole Slaughter - October 22, 2016
- A Tale about Two Tails: No Effect of Having a Regrown Tail on Body Condition - August 29, 2016
- A Few Interesting Findings from a Recent Parasitology Study, anda Plea to Other Researchers - January 12, 2015
Matt McElroy
“Worms found a hole in yo’ booty they could enter!”
Best herping song ever – to be played before every night drive:
Gerrut Norval
Actually, during our enclosure exclusion studies our biggest struggles were against the vegetation – in particular Mikania micrantha – which grew very fast and tended to overgrow the enclosures. So our standard filed work song was “Welcome To The Jungle”