Helminths from the Sonoran Spotted Whiptail, Cnemidophorus sonorae, and the Western Whiptail, Cnemidophorus tigris (Sauria: Teiidae), from Southern Arizona with comments on Abbreviata terrapenis (Nematoda: Physalopteridae)

Great Basin Naturalist 57(3). © 1997, pp. 273-277 HELMINTHS FROM THE SONORAN SPOTTED WHIPTAIL, CNEMIDOPHORUS SONORAE, AND THE WESTERN WHIPTAIL, CNEMIDOPHORUS TIGRIS (SAURIA: TEIIDAE), FROM SOUTHERN ARIZONA WITH COMMENTS ON ABBREVIATA TERRAPENIS (NEMATODA: PHYSALOPTERIDAE) Stephen R. Goldbergl, Charles R. Bunsey^, and Hay Cheaml Key words: Cneniidophorus sonorae, Cnemidophorus tigris, Teiidae, helminths, Nematuda, Cestodu, Acanthocephala, Arizona. Cnemidophorus sonorae Lowe and Wright, 1964, the Sonoran spotted whiptail, occurs from southeastern Arizona to northeastern Sonora and east to western New Mexico; Cne-inidophorus tigris Baird and Girard, 1852, the western whiptail, ranges from Oregon and Idaho south through CaUfomia to Baja Cahfor-nia and Coahuila, Mexico, and eastward to western Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas (Stebbins 1985). Helminths have been previ-ously reported from Cneniidophorus sonorae by McAllister (1992) and Cnemidophorus tigris by Grundmann (1959), Babero and Matthias (1967), Telford (1970), Specian and Ubelaker (1974a, 1974b), Benes (1985), and Lyon (1986). Ahhreviata terrapenis (Hill 1945) Morgan, 1945 was originally described from specimens taken from 7 ornate box turtles {Terrapene ornata) collected from widely separated points in Oklahoma (Hill 1945). The 1st lizard host to be reported for this helminth was Sceloporus jarrovii, also collected from widely separated points in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico (Goldberg et al. 1995, 1996). The purpose of this paper is to report on a helminthological examination of Cnemidophorus sonorae and Cnemidophorus tigris from southern Arizona and the presence of A. terrapenis in these 2 additional lizard hosts. Twenty-one female Cnemidophorus sonorae (mean snout-vent length [SVL] = 73.2 mm ± 5.6 s, range 60-80) and 82 Cnemidophorus tigris (28 females, 54 males; mean SVL = 65.6 mm ± 10.1 s, range 34-82 mm) were borrowed from the herpetology collections of the Nat-ural Histoiy Museum of Los Angeles County (LACM) and the University of Arizona (UAZ) and examined; collection data are given in the Appendix. The lizards were originally pre-served in 10% formalin or Bouin's fixative and stored in 70% ethanol. The body cavity was opened and the gastrointestinal tract was excised by cutting across the esophagus and rectum. The esophagus, stomach, small intes-tines, and large intestines were slit longitudi-nally and examined separately under a dissect-ing microscope. The body cavity and liver were also examined. Each helminth was removed and initially placed in a drop of glycerol on a glass slide. Nematodes were identified from these temporaiy mounts. Cestodes were stained with hematoxylin, mounted in balsam, and iden-tified. Acantliocephalans were cleared in xylene, mounted in balsam, and assigned to genus. Terminology usage is in accordance with Mar-golis et al. (1982). Cnemidophorus sonorae was found to har-bor 2 species of cestodes, Oochoristica bivitel-lobata Loewen, 1940 and O. macalUsteri Bursey and Goldberg, 1996; and 3 species of nema-todes, Ahhreviata terrapenis, Pharyngodon warneri Harwood, 1932, and Thubunaea cne-midophorus Babero and Matthias, 1967. Cnemi-dophorus tigris was found to harbor 1 species of cestode, O. bivitellobata; 2 species of nema-todes, A. terrapenis and P. warneri; and cysta-canths of a species of Acanthocephala, Centro-rhynchus sp. Prevalences and mean intensities for tliese helminths are given in Table 1. The in-fection prevalence between males and females of C. tigris was not significantly different (for A. terrapenis, y^ = 0.17, 1 df, P > 0.05; for F 'Department of Biolog); Whittier College, Whittier, CA 90608. -Department of Biology, Penn,sylvania State University, Shenango Campus, 147 Shenango Avenue, Sharon, PA 16146. 273

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Helminths from the Sonoran Spotted Whiptail, Cnemidophorus sonorae, and the Western Whiptail, Cnemidophorus tigris (Sauria: Teiidae), from Southern Arizona with comments on Abbreviata terrapenis (Nematoda: Physalopteridae)

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