Fallisia parasites (Haemosporidia: Plasmodiidae) from the flying lizard, Draco maculatus (Agamidae) in Thailand.
Plasmodium (Fallisia) siamense n. sp. was described from the flying lizard Draco maculatus (Agamidae) collected near Bangkok, Thailand. Parasitic in thrombocytes, it produces 18-64 merozoites in schizonts that are larger than the usually oval gametocytes. Both gametocyte sexes showed a prominent nucleus, elongate in macrogametocytes and triangular in microgametocytes. This is the first Fallisia parasite described from a host outside the Neotropical Region, although presence of the genus in Australasia was reported 40 years ago, without formal taxonomic designation.
D000818:Animals; D016782:Apicomplexa / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008116:Lizards / Q000469:parasitology*; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013785:Thailand