Folia Parasitologica 68:021 (2021) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2021.021

Putative intranuclear coccidium in Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger) from Morocco

El-Mustapha Laghzaoui¹, Ana Perera², D. James Harris², El Hassan El Mouden ORCID...^1,*

¹ Laboratory of Water, Biodiversity and Climate Change, Faculty of Sciences, Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco;

² CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal

Although intranuclear coccidiosis was first identified in chelonians less than 30 years ago, it is now considered an important emerging disease. Symptoms include anorexia, weakness and weight loss, potentially leading to death of the infected animal. The use of molecular tools has led to improved diagnosis and has also led to an increase in known host species. Here we report a putative intranuclear coccidium in Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger), from Morocco, based on 18S rDNA sequence analysis. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first report of this parasite from a freshwater terrapin species.

Keywords: Coccidia, freshwater turtles, 18s rRNA

Received: January 13, 2021; Revised: May 1, 2021; Accepted: July 15, 2021; Published online: August 17, 2021  Show citation