The abundance and food reserves of Oochoristica agamae isolated from agamid lizards in a tropical environment

Abstract

The abundance of the agamid tapeworm (Oochoristica agamae) in lizards (Agama agama) caught at Ekpoma, Nigeria and their food and mineral reserves were investigated in order to understand aspects the biological relationships existing between these tropical lizards and their common tape worm parasites. The overall infection rate of O. agamae in A. agama was 62.5%. The female lizards had higher worm burden and showed earlier infection in lighter weight classes than male lizards. Analysis of the food reserves of the worms yielded 1.04% soluble sugar (glucose), 17.14% glycogen and 64.07% protein on dry weight bases, while lipid accounted for 5.74% and 36.01% of fresh and dry weight respectively. The parasite had high moisture content of 80.81%. Evaluation of the parasites mineral composition yielded 0.18% phosphorus, 0.15% potassium, 0.19% calcium and 0.16% sodium on dry weight.

International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Vol. 1(2) 2005: 90-95