Epidemiology of blood flukes (Digenea: Spirorchiidae) in sea turtles from Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas, off Italy.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The Spirorchiidae is a family of blood flukes parasitizing turtles. Spirorchiids may cause a wide range of inflammatory reactions in the vascular system of their host being frequently implicated with stranding and death of sea turtles worldwide. Recent studies revealed the presence of two spirorchiid species in the Mediterranean basin. Our study presents comparative epidemiological data of spirorchiid infections in loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) stranded during an eight-year period from Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas, and the first report of Neospirorchis Neogen-11 in a green turtle (Chelonia mydas). METHODS:We screened a total of 319 carcasses of loggerhead turtles stranded from January 2011 to December 2018 along the Tyrrhenian coast (n = 111) and the north-western Adriati

SUBMITTER: Santoro M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7006393 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature