Pathological study of lesion caused by Serpinema microcephalus (Nematoda: Camallanidae) in Mauremys caspica caspica from north of Iran.

Serpinema microcephalus is nematoda from family Camallanidae, which have a lot of pathogenesis species that harbored via many animals like fishes, reptiles and amphibians. Epidemiological study in different regions and histopathological examination of intestinal parasitic infections caused by S. microcephalus are prerequisite to develop appropriate control strategies. This study aimed to describe the lesions caused by S. microcephalus from Caspian turtles of north of Iran. Thirty-four adult turtles were collected from road accidents in Behshahr, northeastern city of Mazandaran province. The turtles were examined in the laboratory and parasite samples were collected from the small intestine. After clarification by lactophenol and staining, the parasites were identified as S. microcephalus (Nematoda: Camallanidae). For histopathological examination, tissue samples were fixed and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Microscopic diagnoses in small intestine included hyperaemia, eosinophilic enteritis, mucosal glands hyperplasia, mucosal ulceration, intestinal exudation and fibroma in some cases. In pancreas tissue the lesions consisted of mild inflammation, fibrosis and edema. Considering the occurrence of intestinal parasitic infections (29.41 %) among Caspian turtles in this study, identification and control of the disease of the turtles are recommended.