Gastrointestinal Helminths of the Mediterranean house Gecko: Hemidactylus turcicus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Tocra city, northeast Libya

Abstract

A total of one hundred and two of H. turcicus (Forty-two male, and sixty female) were collected from three locations in Tocra city, during the period from March to September 2019. Fifty-eight (56.9%) of collected and sacrificed lizards were found infected with at least one species of helminths. Four parasitic species were detected in the gastrointestinal of these geckos, three species belong to phylum Nematoda and one species belong to phylum platyhelminth, class Trematoda. These species are Phragodon mamillatus, Paraphragodon spp., Oxyroid spp., and undefined species of trematode. Most of the infected lizards (93%) showed a single infection and only four individuals have mixed parasites. The result showed no significant difference in the prevalence of the parasites between male and female lizards (P-value = 0.962). Positive correlations were found between Snout-Vent Length (SVL), body weight, and the presence of parasites. There was no significant correlation between, body weight, SVL, and intensity of parasites