Non-indigenous species (NIS) are a leading cause of biodiversity loss, with species decline occurring primarily through competition and predation. However, recent work has shown that introduced pathogens play a significant role in NIS impact. While NIS often carry half the parasite load they contain in their native range, numerous studies have documented the co-introduction of pathogens with NIS and pathogens of NIS have been shown to spillover to native taxa with adverse results. We examined invasive Burmese Pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) and native snakes collected in southern Florida for lung endoparasites to explore the potential for parasite spillover. Parasites were identified to species using both morphological and molecular analyses.
Results/Conclusions
We found Burmese pythons co-introduced a pentastomid parasite (Raillietiella orientalis) that is native to Asia. We recovered R. orientalis from native snakes (nine species, including two families) collected from areas of sympatry with pythons. Mean parasite prevalence was significantly higher among native snakes (54%) compared with pythons (16%). Native snakes exhibited significantly higher infection intensity than pythons, with an average of 9.2 parasites per host for native snakes (range 1-53) and 2.3 parasites per host for pythons (range 1-13). Mean length of female pentastomes was greater in native snakes (49.5 mm) versus pythons (37.7 mm), indicating native snakes may be more competent hosts of R. orientalis than pythons. Our results indicate that Burmese Pythons have introduced an exotic parasite that is capable of infecting native snakes. As the effect of parasites co-introduced with NIS are often more adverse in naive versus co-introduced hosts, spillover of an exotic parasite from pythons to native snakes may negatively affect native snake assemblages.