sp. infection (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) in invasive California kingsnake (Serpentes: Colubridae) in Gran Canaria.

Invasive species pose a threat not only to biodiversity because they displace or compete with native fauna, but also because of the pathogens they can host. The Canary Islands are an Atlantic biodiversity hotspot threatened by increasing numbers of invasive species, including the California kingsnake , which was recently introduced to Gran Canaria. Seventy-seven snakes were examined for gastrointestinal parasites in 2019–2020. Sporocysts of sp. were detected in 10 of them; detection of gamogonia stages in histological sections of 3 snakes confirmed the snake as a definitive host. Partial ssrDNA was amplified using SarcoFext/SarcoRext primers; an additional sequence of was obtained from the tail muscle of the endemic Gran Canaria giant lizard for a comparison. Identical ssrDNA sequences of unknown sp. were obtained from 5 different snakes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that sp. isolated from invasive California kingsnakes is unrelated to provisionally considered from the endemic lizard. The dixenous coccidia are rarely reported to invade new predator–prey systems. However, the present data suggest that previously unknown sp. is circulating among invasive snakes and as yet unknown vertebrate intermediate hosts, with undetermined consequences for the Gran Canaria ecosystem.