First African record of Leucocytozoon tawaki (Apicomplexa: Leucocytozoidae) from the Jackass Penguin Spheniscus demersus

Abstract

The occurrence of Leucocytozoon tawaki is recorded from blood smears of the jackass penguin Spheniscus demersus taken along the South African coast. Illese records represent both the first African specimens of this parasite as well as the first records since its description from the Fiordland crested penguin Eudyptes pachyrhynchus in New Zealand in 1976.