Plasmodium azurophilum
Plasmodium azurophilum is a species of the genus Plasmodium. Like all species in this genus it is a parasite of both vertebrates and insects. The vertebrate hosts are lizards of the genus Anolis.
| Plasmodium azurophilum | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Protista |
| Phylum: | Apicomplexa |
| Class: | Aconoidasida |
| Order: | Haemosporida |
| Family: | Plasmodiidae |
| Genus: | Plasmodium |
| Species: | P. azurophilum |
| Binomial name | |
| Plasmodium azurophilum | |
Description
This species was described by Telford in 1975.
It is now recognised to be a species complex or polyphytic with one species infecting red blood cells and the other infecting white blood cells.[1]
Host record
Anolis species known to be infected by this parasite include Anolis cristatellus, Anolis evermanni, Anolis gingivinus, Anolis gundlachi,[2] Anolis krugi, Anolis oculatus, Anolis roquet,[3] Anolis sabanus, Anolis stratulus and Anolis wattsi.
Median parasitaemia rates in infections tend to be low (<0.5%).[2]
Geographic location
This parasite is found in the eastern Caribbean.
References
- ↑ Perkins, S. L. (2001) Phylogeography of Caribbean lizard malaria: tracing the history of vector-borne parasites. J. Evol. Biol. 14 (1) 34-45
- 1 2 Schall J.J., Pearson A.R., Perkins S.L. (2000) Prevalence of malaria parasites (Plasmodium floridense and Plasmodium azurophilum) infecting a Puerto Rican lizard (Anolis gundlachi): a nine-year study. J. Parasitol. 86(3):511-515
- ↑ Ayala, S. C.,Hertz, P. E. (1981) Malaria infection in Anolis lizards on Martinique, Lesser Antilles. Rev. Inst. Med.Trop. Sao Paulo 23, 12-17
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