INVESTIGATIONS ON THE HOST-SPECIFICITY OF DIHOMOXENOUS SARCOSPORIDIA IN THE INTERMEDIATE AND DEFINITIVE HOST

Cross-transmission experiments were performed in order to determine the host specificity in the intermediate and definitive hosts of the four described dihomoxenous Sarcocystis species, S. gallotiae, S. stehlinii, S. simonyi, and S. dugesii from lacertid lizards of the genera Gallotia and Podarcis from the Macaronesian Islands. Sarcocysts of either species from experimentally infected lizards were fed to a variety of laboratory-bred lizard species of the genera Gallotia, Lacerta, and Podarcis. These sarcocysts proved to be infectious to all examined animals, showing no definitive host specificity in the tested genera. Lizards of the genera Chalcides and Tarentola, however, were not susceptible definitive hosts for S. gallotiae. The inoculation of experimentally obtained sporocysts of each of the four Sarcocystis species to various lacertid lizard species revealed varying degrees of intermediate host specificity, generally demonstrating each native host to be the most susceptible.