Keywords
snake parasites
Abstract
The Northern cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus is a large, semiaquatic viperid snake found statewide in Arkansas. Although a great deal has been published on helminth parasites of A. piscivorus from other parts of its range, little (outside of its cestodes) is known about those other helminths occurring in cottonmouths of the state. In our survey, we examined seven adult A. piscivorus from Polk County and a single specimen from Calhoun County. Several helminth parasites were found, including three trematodes, Styphlodora magna, Renifer ellipticus, and Paralechriorchis syntomentera, two nematodes, an unknown larval ascarid and Physaloptera abjecta, an oligacanthorhynchid acanthocephalan cystacanth, and a pentastome, Porocephalus crotali. We document new host and geographic records for these parasites from a small sample of A. piscivorus collected from Arkansas.
Recommended Citation
McAllister, C.T.; Bursey, C.R.; and Robison, H.W.
(2023)
"Helminth Parasites of Northern Cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus (Ophidia: Viperidae), from Arkansas,"
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 77, Article 8.
https://doi.org/10.54119/jaas.2023.77107
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol77/iss1/8
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