Nematode parasites of the smooth snake, Coronella austriaca Laurenti, 1768 and the Aesculapian snake, Zamenis longissimus (Laurenti, 1768) (Ophidia: Colubridae), collected from North-Western Turkey

Abstract

In this investigation, 11 Smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca), and 8 Aesculapian snakes (Zamenis longissimus) were collected between 1998 and 2007 from northwestern Turkey and were examined for the first time helminthologically. It was recorded that Coronella austriaca harbored 1 species of Nematoda (Kalicephalus sp.) and one unidentified nematode cyst; Zamenis longissimus, 4 species of Nematoda (Rhabdias fuscovenosa, Oxysomatium brevicaudatum, Kalicephalus sp. and Ophidascaris sp.) and two unidentified cysts. All helminths samples represented new host records for Coronella austriaca and Zamenis longissimus in Turkey. It was also recorded that Turkey is a new locality for Kalicephalus sp. and Ophidascaris sp.