Helminth Parasites of Herpetofauna from the Rupunini District, Southwestern Guyana

Twenty-four individual amphibians (4 families, 11 species) and 52 individual reptiles (9 families, 19 species) from the Rupunini District of southwestern Guyana were examined for helminths. Ten species of amphibians (91%) and 13 (8 lizards, 5 snakes) species of reptiles (68%) were found to harbor at least 1 species of helminth; 1 species of amphibian harbored a multiple infection of 2 helminths, and 2 harbored a multiple infection of 3 helminths. One species of reptile harbored a multiple infection of 2 helminths, 1 was infected with 3 species, and 1 harbored a multiple infection of 5 species. Three species of cestodes (1 linstowiid and 2 proteocephalids) and 20 species of nematodes representing 10 families were found in the herpetofauna surveyed. Twenty-five new host and 23 new geographic records are documented.