Plasmodium floridense explained

Plasmodium floridense is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Lacertaemoba. As in all Plasmodium species, P. floridense has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are lizards.

Description

This species was described by Thompson and Huff in 1944.

Schizonts are 1.5 -2.0 times the size of the nucleus of an uninfected erythrocyte. They produce 8-24 merozoites.

The gametocytes are of a similar size.

Distribution

This organism is found in an area stretching continuously from the southern United States to Panama. It is also found in the Caribbean.

Hosts

It infects lizards of the genera Anolis (Anolis carolinensis,^[1] Anolis gundlachi^[2] Anolis sabanus,^[3] Anolis sagrei^[4]) and Sceloporus undulatus.^[1]

The prevalence of infection in Anolis sagrei in Florida is high (46%) but the median parasitaemia in infected hosts is low (0.3%).^[1]

Notes and References

1. Perkins S.L., Kerwin A.S., Rothschild A.D. (2008) Patterns of infection of the lizard malaria parasite, Plasmodium floridense, in invasive brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) in Southwestern Florida. Parasitol Res.
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
3. Staats C.M., Schall J.J. (1996) Distribution and abundance of two malarial parasites of the endemic Anolis lizard of Saba Island, Netherlands Antilles. J. Parasitol. 82(3):409-413
4. Perkins S.L., Rothschild A. Waltari E. (2007) Infections of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium floridense, in the invasive anole, Anolis sagrei, in Florida J. Herpetol. 41:750-754.