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ABSTRACT
Investigation of two species of wall geckos, caught in Osasogie, Benin City, Edo State for their parasites was undertaken between August and November, 2024. A total of 21 specimens were collected consisting of 13 males and eight females. Two species of geckos were encountered, consisting of Hemidactylus angulatus and Hemidactylus mabouia. Out of the 21 samples examined, nine were H. angulatus and 12 were H. mabouia. Fourteen out of the 21 wall geckos examined were infected with parasites giving an overall prevalence of 66.67%. The parasites recorded included: Pentastomid; Raillietiella sp. (52.38%), Cestode; Oochoristica sp. (23.81%), and Nematode; Parapharyngodon awokoyai (14.29%). The most encountered parasite was Raillietiella sp. while the least encountered was Parapharyngodon awokoyai. More females (100 %) were infected than males (46.15%). This difference in prevalence values was statistically significant (p<0.01). The parasite diversity in this study was low and the three parasites recorded in this study have previously been recorded by other authors in Nigeria. Further study needs to be conducted on the helminth parasites of wall geckos from Osasogie in order to unravel other species of wall geckos and helminth parasites infecting them which were not recorded in this study due to small sample size and short duration of study.
