ABSTRACT
Investigations of helminth parasites in freshwater turtles have been carried out in different states such as Edo, Delta, Anambra and Ogun. These studies revealed the array of parasites including pentastomids, monogeneans, digeneans and nematodes infecting freshwater turtles in these locations. Till now, no study of helminth parasites has been carried out in Ekiti State. The aim of this study is to identify the water turtles from Ekiti and Lagos State, Nigeria and to determine the prevalence of the helminth parasites encounted. A total of 27 freshwater turtles were purchased from two locations: Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State and Epe in Lagos State. The turtles investigated were Pelomedusa subrufa and Pelusios castaneus procured from Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State while Pelusios castaneus and Pelusios niger were purchased from Epe, Lagos State. The turtles were dissected and the buccal cavity, the gastrointestinal tract, liver, lungs and urinary bladder were examined for parasites. The parasites recovered included Monogenea: Uropolystomoides chabaudi recovered from the urinary bladder of P. subrufa; Digenea: two species of Harmotrema, (Harmotrema sp. 1 and Harmotrema sp. 2) was recovered from the small intestine of Pelusios niger; Nematoda: Camallanus sp. was the major nematode parasite recovered from these turtles; it was recovered from the small intestines of P. subrufa, P. castaneus and P. niger. Spiroxys sp. was recovered only from P. niger. The recovery of Harmotrema spp. in P. niger further confirms turtles as new hosts of these trematodes and for the second time in south-western Nigeria. The earlier report was in P. castaneus from Ondo State. Their syntopic occurrence as observed in P. niger is being reported for the first time. The prevalence of infection in P. subrufa, P. castaneus, and P. niger were 100%, 80%, and 50% respectively, with mean intensity of 7.4, 7.9 and 7.8 parasites/infected host also respectively. The overall prevalence was 74.1% while the overall mean intensity was 8.3 parasite/infected host. There was significant difference in the prevalence and mean intensity of infection between Camallanus sp., Spiroxys sp., Harmotrema sp. 1 and Harmotrema sp. 2 (p<0.05).
