The first case of Spiroxys contortus in European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) in the wild in Poland

Abstract

During standard parasitological dissection of 4 individuals of European pond turtle (E. orbicularis) (Linneaus, 1758) one nematode was found. In a morphological examination the parasite was identified as Spiroxys contortus (Rudolphi, 1819) and confirmed by DNA analysis based on sequencing of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene. The partial 18S rDNA gene was deposited to NCBI GenBank with the accession number MN629917. This is the first molecular evidence of S. contortus in E. orbicularis from wild from Poland. The analyzed sample genotype sequence shows 100% similarity to the reference specimen from Argentina.