New Host and Distributional Records for Helminth Parasites (Trematoda, Cestoda, Nematoda) from Amphibians (Caudata, Anura) and Reptiles (Testudines: Ophidia) of Oklahoma

Abstract

Between April 2012 and September 2016, 28 amphibians and seven reptiles from Delaware, Latimer, and McCurtain counties, Oklahoma, were examined for helminth parasites, including 10 Oklahoma salamanders, Eurycea tynerensis, two Fowler’s toads, Anaxyrus fowleri, five crawfish frogs, Lithobates areolatus, two spring peepers, Pseudacris crucifer, nine Cajun chorus frogs, Pseudacris fouquettei, two eastern cooters, Pseudemys concinna, and one each black racer, Coluber constrictor priapus, western mud snake, Farancia abacura reinwardti, plainbellied watersnake, Nerodia erythrogaster, broad-banded watersnake, Nerodia fasciata confluens, and western ratsnake, Pantherophis obsoletus. A total of 11 helminths, including six trematodes (Dasymetra conferta, Glypthelmins sp., Haematoloechus complexus, Renifer ellipticus, Renifer sp. metacercaria, Telorchis corti), two cestodes (Oochoristica eumecis, Ophiotaenia sp.), and three nematodes (Cosmocercoides variabilis, Omeia papillocauda, Oswaldocruzia pipiens) were harbored by these hosts. Although we document six new host and two new distributional records, the total parasite fauna of Oklahoma’s herpetofauna is probably underestimated, particularly from potential hosts in the western and panhandle regions of the state.