Hepatozoon
species are the most abundant hemoparasites of snakes.
Its identification has been based mainly on the morphologic characterization of
the gamonts in the peripheral blood of the vertebrate host and also of the cysts
found in the internal organs of the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Using a
computerized image analysis system, we studied five species of
Hepatozoon
from recently captured snakes in Botucatu, State of São Paulo, Brazil, to
evaluate the importance of the morphology and morphometry of the gamonts for the
characterization of
Hepatozoon species and to analyze the morphologic changes
induced in the erythrocytes by the parasite. The studied species were
H. terzii
of
Boa constrictor amarali
,
Hepatozoon sp. of
Crotalus durissus terrificus
,
H. philodryasi of
Philodryas patagoniensis
,
and
H. migonei and
H. cyclagrasi of
Hydrodynastes gigas
.
We observed three different groups, one of them including the species
H. terzii,
H. philodryasi and
Hepatozoon sp. of
C. durissus terrificus;
and the other two consisting of
H. migonei and
H. cyclagrasi. Degree
of alterations in the erythrocytes was variable and it may be useful for characterization
of
Hepatozoon species.
