Eimeria chelydrae Ernst, Stewart, Sampson, and Fincher, 1969 (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Common Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina (Reptilia: Testudines: Chelydridae): First Report from Oklahoma

Abstract

The state of Oklahoma supports 19 species and subspecies of turtles in four families (Sievert and Sievert 2011). Although there is a good deal of information on their helminth parasites (see references in McAllister et al. 2015a), little is known about their coccidian (Apicomplexa) parasites (Duszynski and Morrow 2014). The only study, to date investigating Oklahoma turtle coccidians, was performed by McAllister et al. (2015b) on Eimeria ornata McAllister
and Upton, 1989 from three-toed box turtles, Terrapene mexicana triunguis (=T. c. triunguis). Here, we report a coccidian in common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), for the first time, in Oklahoma.