Case Report: The first record ofsp. infection in the Chinese alligator ().

Abstract

Although digestive tract parasites are widely spread in wild or farmed crocodiles worldwide, only limited data are available onsp. reported in crocodiles. The Chinese alligator () is endemic to the Yangtze River in China, and only a few parasites have been reported to infect the Chinese alligator. In this study, a nematode was collected in the abdominal fascia of a captive deceased Chinese alligator. Cytochrome oxidase I (COI), internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and partial small subunit DNA segments (18S) sequences were amplified to further confirm the genetic information of the species. The results showed that the nematode was attributed to the genus. Overall, this is the first report ofsp. infected in the Chinese alligator, expanding the known host range of this nematode and contributing to a better understanding of its life cycle.