Merogony and Phylogeny of Hepatozoon rawashi Parasitizing Hasselquist's Fan-Footed Gecko, Ptyodactylus hasselquisiti (Sauria: Phylodactylidae) in Egypt

Abstract

In 1995, it was reported that Mohammed and Ramadan (1996, in press) were soon to describe a new species of lizard haemogregarine, Haemogregarina rawashi, in Ptyodactylus hasselquisti from Egypt, but the paper was never published. This name was suppressed because Mohammed and Ramadan violated the "Criteria for Publication" and "What Constitutes Published Work" sections of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. A redescription of Ha. rawashi, was restricted only to blood forms, which allowed speculation that the data and visual documentation (photomicrographs, line drawings) of the tissue stages were forever lost. However, here we report collecting P. hasselquisti from South Sinai, Egypt and finding 5/20 (25%) infected with haemogregarine-like blood and tissue (liver) stages. The blood stages were comparable with those in an earlier report from Egypt, the liver stages were comparable with those of other Hepatozoon species, and the newly amplified 18S ribosomal ribonucleic acid sequences were similar to other sequenced Hepatozoon species, justifying the reassignment of Ha. rawashi to Hepatozoon rawashi as reported by others.