86 Michael D. Stuart and Grover C. Miller 



using a Mann-Whitney U-test between males, females, and juveniles 

 indicated that the number of S. affinis in juveniles differed significantly 

 from that in females (P = 0.02) but that there was no significant 

 difference between males and females (P = 0.26), or between juveniles 

 and males (P = 0.13). Fifty-two (44%) of the 117 turtles had active 

 ulcer-like lesions in the fundal region of the stomach. Macroscopically, 

 the lesions or ulcers showed a raised area 1-2 cm in diameter with 

 a central opening 4-5 mm wide that extended into the stomach wall. 

 Microscopically, the lesions showed a moderate to dense lymphiod 

 infiltrate into the granulatomatous lining of the ulcer. When pressure 

 was applied to the base of these ulcers, masses of larval nematodes 

 were expressed. Comparison with adult and immature nematodes already 

 collected from the colon, particularly in regard to the shape of the 

 esophageal bulb and the developing lip structures, showed these larvae 

 to be Spironoura affinis. Many of the turtles had healed from previous 

 ulcers, which suggests that the damage is tolerated. 



In our survey, 29.9% of the turtles (35/117) were parasitized by 

 Telorchis robustus, including 13 males, 15 females, and 7 juveniles. 

 The number of worms per turtle was substantial with a mean (and 

 range) of 62.2 (1-295) for males, 22.5 (1-93) for females, and 27.5 

 (1-80) for juvenile turtles. Telorchis robustus caused the only serious 

 health problem seen in our study. One turtle with 223 worms had a 

 partially telescoped intestine, apparently caused by the large worm 

 mass. 



Two of the male turtles hosted nine and seven Brachycoelium 

 salamandrae (Froelich, 1789), respectively. One female harbored nine 

 worms. None was found in juvenile turtles. The total prevalence was 

 2.6% (3/117) with a mean of 8.3 worms per turtle. 



Twenty-four of the box turtles were infected with Cosmocercoides 

 dukae (range = 1-241, x = 22.3). The genus Aplectana is closely 

 related to Cosmocercoides and is usually distinguished from the latter 

 by the absence of plectanes in the male. Both are normally parasites 

 of amphibians. Five (4.3%) turtles were infected with 1-15 sexually 

 mature nematodes, lacking plectanes on the males. Because of the 

 absence of plectanes, these worms were tentatively identified as Aplectana 

 sp., but additional work on the morphology and life cycle is needed 

 before a firm identification of the species can be made. 



We also found two genera of spirurid nematodes. Serpinema 

 (-Camallanus) microcephalus (Dujardin, 1845) was in the stomach of 

 one turtle. This host was partially buried in the mud in a pool in an 

 intermittent stream. The turtle had possibly swallowed infected copepods. 

 Three turtle stomachs contained Physaloptera sp. Only two males were 

 recovered. Based on the small sample size, we could not determine 



