Nematodes from northern Australian reptiles

Twenty-one species of nematode were identified from the gastrointestinal tract or body cavity of 131 individual lizards and snakes comprising 26 species. In 13 host species, only a single individual specimen was available, and the aquatic Keelback snake ('Tropidonophis mairii') comprised almost half the specimens examined. In general, nematode intensity was low, and only a single adult nematode specimen was present in most of the reptiles examined. Most nematode species showed specificity to one host family, except for 'Abbreviata bancrofti', which was recovered from six species across four families. A total of 21 new host-parasite records and one new locality record are listed, with a number of reptile species reported as a host for a nematode for the first time.