Upton S J, McAllister C T, Garrett C M
Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506.
J Egypt Soc Parasitol. 1993 Apr;23(1):189-93.
Three armadillo girdled lizards, Cordylus cataphractus Boie, 1828, housed at the Dallas Zoo in Texas, USA but originally imported from Namaqualand, South Africa, were found to be passing oocysts of a previously undescribed species of eimerian. Oocysts of Eimeria murphyi sp. n. are cylindroidal, 44.1 x 21.3 (41.5-46.5 x 20.5-24) microns, with a shape index (length/width) of 2.07 (1.75-2.21). A micropyle and oocyst residuum are absent, but a polar granule is present. Sporocysts ellipsoidal, 13.5 x 10.2 (13-14.5 x 9.5-11) microns (N = 20), with a shape index of 1.32 (1.23-1.46). Each sporozoite possesses a single, posterior refractile body. This represents the first report of coccidia infecting a member of the saurian family Cordylidae.
