A variety of parasites have been recorded from the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris), a semiaquatic rodent found in the eastern and southern United States, north to New Jersey and Kansas and south to Florida and Texas, and in Tamaulipas, far northeastern Mexico. Some of these parasites are endoparasites, internal parasites, while others are ectoparasites, external parasites.
Parasitologist John Kinsella compared the endoparasites of marsh rice rats in a saltwater marsh at Cedar Key and a freshwater marsh at Paynes Prairie, both in Florida, in a 1988 study. He found a total of 45 species, a number unequaled in rodents. This may be related to the diverse habitats the rice rat uses and to its omnivorous diet; it eats a variety of animals which may serve as intermediate hosts of various parasites. The endoparasites in the saltwater marsh were dominated by trematodes (flukes), and those of the freshwater marsh by nematodes (roundworms). Endoparasites were found in the gastric mucosa (which lines the stomach), the cavity of the stomach, the small intestine, the cecum, the large intestine, the pancreatic duct, the bile ducts, the mucus of the liver, the pulmonary arteries, the abdominal cavity, and the pleural cavity. While the marsh rice rat harbors a number of host-specific species, such as the nematode Aonchotheca forresteri, other parasite species, such as the lone star tick (pictured), are shared with other mammals. Compared to the hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), Florida marsh rice rats usually harbor fewer individual ectoparasites of each species. Borrelia, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, has been identified in some ticks that infect the marsh rice rat and it has been identified as a possible natural reservoir for Borrelia.
Key
| Name | The scientific name of the parasite species. A note is given where a species has been recorded on the marsh rice rat under different scientific names. Unnamed species are indicated with "sp." and parasites that could not be identified to species level are indicated with "unidentified". |
| Geographic occurrence | U.S. states where the parasite has been recorded on the marsh rice rat (no parasite records are available from the Mexican distribution of the marsh rice rat). This information is unavailable for some parasites. |
| Prevalence | Prevalence of infection with the parasite in a studied marsh rice rat population. The prevalence is given either as a percentage (e.g., 10%) or as a fraction (e.g., 5/50, meaning that 5 out of 50 examined animals were infected with the parasite), together with the site of study. Prevalence figures are unavailable for some parasites. |
| Present on other species? | "Yes" indicates that the parasite has also been recorded on other host species, "no" that it is (as far as known) specific to the marsh rice rat. For some unnamed species, the sources do not indicate whether or not the species is specific to the marsh rice rat. |
Ectoparasites
Acari
The Acari include the mites and ticks. Many are parasites of other animals. One study in South Carolina failed to find ticks on marsh rice rats living in marshes, which are an unsuitable habitat for the parasites.
| Name | Geographic occurrence | Prevalence | Present on other species? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amblyomma americanum | Georgia | – | Yes |
| Amblyomma maculatum | South Carolina | – | Yes |
| Androlaelaps casalis | – | – | Yes |
| Androlaelaps fahrenholzi | Florida; Georgia | 50% (Everglades, Florida); 60% (Hillsborough Co., Florida); 3/29 (southwestern Georgia) | Yes |
| Dermacentor variabilis | Florida; Georgia; Missouri; South Carolina; Tennessee | 47% (Everglades); 65% (Hillsborough Co.); 12/29 (southwestern Georgia); 21% (Chester Co., South Carolina) | Yes, but marsh rice rat is among most important hosts |
| Euschoengastia peromysci | Georgia | – | Yes |
| Euschoengastia setosa | Georgia | – | No |
| Euschoengastia sp. | Georgia | – | No |
| Eutrombicula batatas | Florida | – | No |
| Eutrombicula splendens | Florida; Georgia | 95% (Hillsborough Co.); 1/29 (southwestern Georgia) | Yes |
| Gigantolaelaps mattogrossensis | Florida; Georgia; Texas | 35% (Everglades); 14/29 (southwestern Georgia) | Yes, but in the United States occurs mainly in rice rats |
| Haemogamasus, unidentified species | Georgia | – | – |
| Ixodes affinis | Georgia | – | Yes |
| Ixodes brunneus | Georgia | – | Yes |
| Ixodes cookei | Virginia | – | Yes |
| Ixodes minor | South Carolina | – | Yes |
| Ixodes scapularis | Georgia; North Carolina; South Carolina; Virginia | 30% (Outer Banks, North Carolina) | Yes |
| Ixodes texanus | Georgia | – | Yes |
| Ixodes, unidentified species | Florida | – | – |
| Laelaps manguinhosi | Florida; South Carolina; Texas | – | None north of Mexico |
| Laelaps sp. | Florida; Georgia | 50% (Everglades); 10% (Hillsborough Co.); 4/29 (southwestern Georgia) | Yes, but occurs mainly in rice rats |
| Listrophoridae, unidentified species | Florida; Georgia | – | – |
| Listrophorus, unidentified species | Georgia | 8/29 (southwestern Georgia) | – |
| Ornithonyssus bacoti | Florida; Georgia | 20% (Everglades); 50% (Hillsborough Co.); 11/29 (southwestern Georgia) | Yes |
| Ornithonyssus sp. | Georgia | 1/29 (southwestern Georgia) | Yes |
| Oryzomysia oryzomys | Georgia | – | No |
| Prolistrophorus bakeri | – | – | Yes |
| Prolistrophorus grassii | Georgia | – | Yes |
| Radfordia palustris | Florida; Georgia; South Carolina | – | No |
Anoplura
Sucking lice (Anoplura) are a diverse group infecting placental mammals. Species found on marsh rice rats include three of the common genus Hoplopleura and Polyplax spinulosa, which more usually infects black and brown rats.
| Name | Geographic occurrence | Prevalence | Present in other species? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoplopleura hirsuta | Georgia | 1/29 (southwestern Georgia) | Yes; usually occurs in cotton rats |
| Hoplopleura oryzomydis | Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Louisiana; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas | 18% (Everglades); 35% (Hillsborough Co.); 1/21 (Shelby County, Tennessee) | Yes |
| Polyplax spinulosa | Georgia; Tennessee | 2/29 (southwestern Georgia) | Yes; normally infects Rattus |
Siphonaptera
Fleas (Siphonaptera) are common parasites of vertebrates, mainly mammals. Several species of fleas have been found on the marsh rice rat.
| Name | Geographic occurrence | Prevalence | Present in other species? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ctenocephalides felis | Georgia | – | Yes |
| Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes | Missouri; Tennessee | 2/21 (Shelby Co., Tennessee) | Yes |
| Epitedia wenmanni | Missouri | – | Yes |
| Polygenis gwyni | Florida; Georgia; Mississippi; South Carolina | 4/29 (southwestern Georgia); 33% (Marion Co., Mississippi) | Yes; mainly found on the hispid cotton rat |
| Stenoponia americana | South Carolina; Tennessee | 1/39 (Shelby Co.) | Yes |
Endoparasites
Unless otherwise specified, all information in this section is from Kinsella (1988, table 1).
Nematoda
Nematodes are among the largest animal phyla and include at least 12,000 known species that are parasites of vertebrates. In Kinsella's 1988 study in Florida, species diversity was higher in the saltwater marsh (Cedar Key) than the freshwater marsh (Paynes Prairie), but nematodes at Paynes Prairie occurred more commonly and made up the bulk of the parasites found in rice rats there.
| Name | Geographic occurrence | Prevalence | Present in other species? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aonchotheca forresteri | Florida | 46% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 1% (Cedar Key, Florida) | No |
| Capillaria gastrica | Florida | 4% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 6% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Capillaria hepatica | Florida | 8% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 6% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Hassalstrongylus forresteri | Florida | 92% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 9% (Cedar Key, Florida) | No |
| Hassalstrongylus lichtenfelsi | Florida | No | |
| Hassalstrongylus musculi | Florida | Yes | |
| Litomosoides scotti | Florida | 57% (Cedar Key, Florida) | No |
| Mastophorus muris | Georgia; Florida | 36% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 1% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Monodontus sp. | Florida | 1% (Cedar Key, Florida) | – |
| Parastrongylus schmidti | Florida | 7% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 3% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Not in the wild, but is able to infect other rodents in experiments |
| Pterygodermatites ondatrae | Florida | 20% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 5% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Pterygodermatites sp. | Florida | – | |
| Physaloptera hispida | Florida | 35% (Paynes Prairie, Florida) | Yes |
| Physaloptera sp. | Florida | 4% (Cedar Key, Florida) | – |
| Skrjabinoclava kinsellai | Florida | 28% (Cedar Key, Florida) | No |
| Spiruridae, unidentified larvae | Florida | 5% (Cedar Key, Florida) | – |
| Strongyloides sp. | Florida | 30% (Paynes Prairie, Florida) | – |
| Syphacia oryzomyos | Florida | 42% (Paynes Prairie, Florida) | No |
| Trichostrongylus affinis | Florida | 14% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 6% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Trichostrongylus sigmodontis | Florida | 8% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 3% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
Cestoda
Four tapeworms are known from the marsh rice rat, all in Florida, but three of those are usually found in other species and only rarely in the rice rat.
| Name | Geographic occurrence | Prevalence | Present in other species? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hymenolepis diminuta | Florida | 19% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 1% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Taenia rileyi | Florida | 1% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes; usually infects bobcats |
| Taenia mustelae | Florida | 0.5% (Paynes Prairie, Florida) | Yes; usually infects skunks and mustelids |
| Cladotaenia circi | Florida | 0.5% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 1% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes; usually infects hawks |
Digenea
Flukes (Trematoda) from the subclass Digenea are common parasites of small mammals with complex life cycles. In his 1988 study, Kinsella found an unprecedented 21 species of trematodes in Florida marsh rice rats. The intermediate hosts of these trematodes include a variety of invertebrates, fish, and amphibians, which are eaten by the marsh rice rat. Trematodes were generally more common at the Cedar Key saltwater marsh than at the freshwater marsh in Paynes Prairie.
| Name | Geographic occurrence | Prevalence | Present in other species? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acanthotrema cursitans | Florida | 52% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Ascocotyle angrense | Florida | 25% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes; occurs mainly in birds |
| Ascocotyle pindoramensis | Florida | 9% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes; occurs mainly in birds |
| Brachylaima virginianum | Florida | 15% (Paynes Prairie, Florida) | Yes; occurs mainly in the Virginia opossum |
| Catatropis johnstoni | Florida | 30% (Cedar Key, Florida) | No other natural definitive host known, but occurs outside the range of the marsh rice rat and the normal host may be a bird |
| Echinochasmus schwartzi | Florida | 19% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Fibricola lucida | Florida | 67% (Paynes Prairie, Florida); 11% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Gymnophalloides heardi | Florida | 26% (Cedar Key, Florida) | No |
| Gynaecotyla adunca | Florida | 15% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes; normally infects birds |
| Levinseniella deblocki | Florida | 49% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Lyperosomum intermedium | Florida | 45% (Cedar Key, Florida) | No |
| Maritrema heardi | Florida | 19% (Cedar Key, Florida) | No |
| Maritrema prosthometra | Florida | 5% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Maritrema sp. I | Florida | 69% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Microphallus basodactylophallus | Florida | 94% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Microphallus nicolli | Florida | 9% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Microphallus sp. | Florida | 10% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Notocotylus fosteri | Florida | 3/4 (Cedar Key, Florida) | No |
| Odhneria odhneri | Florida | 6% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Probolocoryphe glandulosa | Florida | 56% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Urotrema scabridum | Florida | 23% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
| Zonorchis komareki | Florida | 1% (Cedar Key, Florida) | Yes |
Pentastomida
Pentastomida is an enigmatic group of parasites that may be related to maxillopod crustaceans. One species, Porocephalus crotali, is known from the marsh rice rat. It infects various mammals in the southeastern United States, which serve as intermediate hosts; snakes which eat those mammals are the definitive hosts.
| Name | Geographic occurrence | Prevalence | Present in other species? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porocephalus crotali | Florida; South Carolina | 12/105 (Levy County, Florida); 3/17 (Bear Island, South Carolina) | Yes |
Apicomplexa
Apicomplexa is a major group of unicellular eukaryotes that encompasses several important parasites, including the malaria parasite Plasmodium. Three species are known from the marsh rice rat, all of which belong to the Eimerina clade. Two are in the genus Eimeria, members of which cause the economically significant disease coccidiosis in poultry. The third is a member of Isospora, which includes species that are pathogenic in humans and pigs.
| Name | Geographic occurrence | Prevalence | Present in other species? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eimeria kinsellai | Florida | – | No |
| Eimeria palustris | Alabama | 7/19 (Tuskegee National Forest, Alabama) | No |
| Isospora hammondi | Alabama | 3/19 (Tuskegee National Forest, Alabama) | No |
Footnotes
References
Literature cited
- Anderson, R. C.; Wong, P. L. (1994). "Skrjabinoclava kinsellai n. sp. (Nematoda: Acuarioidea) from the rice rat Oryzomys palustris in Florida". Systematic Parasitology. 28: 1–4. doi:10.1007/BF00006904. S2CID 38223917.
- Barnard, William P.; Ernst, John V.; Roper, Richard A. (1971). "Eimeria kinsellaisp. N. (Protozoa: Eimeriidae) in a Marsh Rice Rat Oryzomys palustrisfrom Florida". The Journal of Protozoology. 18 (3): 546–547. doi:10.1111/j.1550-7408.1971.tb03370.x. PMID 5167229.
- Barnard, William P.; Ernst, John V.; Stevens, Robert O. (1971). "Eimeria palustris sp. n. And Isospora hammondi sp. n. (Coccidia: Eimeriidae) from the Marsh Rice Rat, Oryzomys palustris (Harlan)". The Journal of Parasitology. 57 (6): 1293–1296. doi:10.2307/3277983. JSTOR 3277983. PMID 5003273.
- Beck, Hans-Peter; Blake, Damer; Dardé, Marie-Laure; Felger, Ingrid; Pedraza-Díaz, Susana; Regidor-Cerrillo, Javier; Gómez-Bautista, Mercedes; Ortega-Mora, Luis Miguel; Putignani, Lorenza; Shiels, Brian; Tait, Andrew; Weir, Willie (2009). "Molecular approaches to diversity of populations of apicomplexan parasites". International Journal for Parasitology. 39 (2): 175–189. doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2008.10.001. PMID 18983997.
- Borror, Donald J., and White, Richard E. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- Brookins, M. D.; Wellehan, J. F. X.; Roberts, J. F.; Allison, K.; Curran, S. S.; Childress, A. L.; Greiner, E. C. (2009). "Massive Visceral Pentastomiasis Caused by Porocephalus crotaliin a Dog". Veterinary Pathology. 46 (3): 460–463. doi:10.1354/vp.07-VP-0246-R-BC. PMID 19176495. S2CID 8415324.
- Bush, Albert O.; Kinsella, John M. (1972). "A Natural Definitive Host for Catatropis johnstoni Martin, 1956 (Trematoda: Notocotylidae), with Notes on Experimental Host Specificity and Intraspecific Variation". The Journal of Parasitology. 58 (4): 843–845. doi:10.2307/3278335. JSTOR 3278335. PMID 5057245.
- Carmichael, Joseph A.; Strauss, Richard E.; McIntyre, Nancy E. (2007). "Seasonal Variation of North American Form of Gigantolaelaps mattogrossensis (Acari: Laelapidae) on Marsh Rice Rat in Southern Coastal Texas". Journal of Medical Entomology. 44 (1): 80–84. doi:10.1603/0022-2585(2007)44[80:SVONAF]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0022-2585. PMID 17294924. S2CID 15349741.
- Ching, Hilda Lei (1995). "Four New Gymnophallid Digeneans from Rice Rats, Willets, and Molluscs in Florida". The Journal of Parasitology. 81 (6): 924–928. doi:10.2307/3284042. JSTOR 3284042. PMID 8544066.
- Clark, Kerry L.; Durden, Lance A. (2002). "Parasitic Arthropods of Small Mammals in Mississippi". Journal of Mammalogy. 83 (4): 1039–1048. doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2002)083<1039:PAOSMI>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 1545-1542.
- Clark, Kerry L.; Oliver Jr, James H.; Grego, John M.; James, Angela M.; Durden, Lance A.; Banks, Craig W. (2001). "Host Associations of Ticks Parasitizing Rodents Atborrelia Burgdorferienzootic Sites in South Carolina". Journal of Parasitology. 87 (6): 1379–1386. doi:10.1645/0022-3395(2001)087[1379:HAOTPR]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0022-3395. PMID 11780825. S2CID 25871482.
- Deblock, S.; Heard, R. W. (1969). "Contribution à l'étude des Microphallidae. Travassos, 1920 (Trematoda). XIX - Description de Maritrema prosthometra n. sp. Et De longiductotrema nov. gen. Parasites d'Oiseaux Ralliformes d'Amérique du Nord". Annales de Parasitologie Humaine et Comparée. 44 (4): 415–424. doi:10.1051/parasite/1969444415. PMID 5393009.
- Denton, J. Fred; Kinsella, John M. (1972). "Lyperosomum intermedium sp. n. (Digenea: Dicrocoeliidae) from the Rice Rat, Oryzomys palustris, from Southeastern Salt Marshes". The Journal of Parasitology. 58 (2): 226–228. doi:10.2307/3278074. JSTOR 3278074. PMID 5022855.
- Diaw, O.T. 1976. Contribution a l'etude de nematodes Trichostrongyloidea parasites de xenarthre, marsupiaux et rongeurs neotropicaux. Bulletin de la Muséum National de la Histoire Naturel de Paris (Zoologie) 282:1065-1089.
- Ditrich, Oleg; Scholz, Tomáš; Vargas-Vázquez, Joaquín (1996). "Life-cycle of Echinochasmus macrocaudatus n. Sp. (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae)". Systematic Parasitology. 33 (3): 225–235. doi:10.1007/BF01531204. S2CID 20629195.
- Doran, David J. (1955). "A Catalogue of the Protozoa and Helminths of North American Rodents. III. Nematoda". American Midland Naturalist. 53 (1): 162–175. doi:10.2307/2422306. JSTOR 2422306.
- Durden, Lance A. (1988). "The Spiny Rat Louse, Polyplax spinulosa, as a Parasite of the Rice Rat, Oryzomys palustris, in North America". The Journal of Parasitology. 74 (5): 900–901. doi:10.2307/3282280. JSTOR 3282280. PMID 3047354.
- Durden, L.A. and Kollars, T.M., Jr. 1997. The fleas (Siphonaptera) of Tennessee. Journal of Vector Ecology 22(1):13-22.
- Durden, L.A. and Musser, G.G. 1994. The sucking lice (Insecta, Anoplura) of the world: a taxonomic checklist with records of mammalian hosts and geographical distributions. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 218:1-90.
- Durden, L.A., Kollars, T.M., Jr., Patton, S. and Gerhardt, R.R. 1997. Sucking lice (Anoplura) of mammals of Tennessee. Journal of Vector Ecology 22(1):71-76.
- Durden, L.A., Wills, W. and Clark, K.L. 1999. The fleas (Siphonaptera) of South Carolina with an assessment of their vectorial importance. Journal of Vector Ecology 24(2):171-181.
- Feliu, Carlos; Torres, Jordi; Miquel, Jordi; Segovia, Juan Matías; Fons, Roger (2006). "Digenean trematodes". Micromammals and Macroparasites. pp. 13–23. doi:10.1007/978-4-431-36025-4_2. ISBN 978-4-431-36024-7.
- Forrester, D.J. 1992. Parasites and diseases of wild mammals in Florida. University of Press of Florida, 459 pp. ISBN 978-0-8130-1072-4
- Forrester, Donald J.; Kinsella, John M. (1973). "Comparative morphology and ecology of two species of Litomosoides (Nematoda: Filarioidea) of rodents in Florida, with a key to the species of Litomosoides Chandler, 1931". International Journal for Parasitology. 3 (2): 255–263. doi:10.1016/0020-7519(73)90031-3. PMID 4706574.
- Forrester, Donald J.; Shealy, Robert M.; Best, Stephen H. (1970). "Porocephalus crotali (Pentastomida) in South Carolina". The Journal of Parasitology. 56 (5): 977. doi:10.2307/3277517. JSTOR 3277517.
- Foster, Garry W.; Cunningham, Mark W.; Kinsella, John M.; Forrester, Donald J. (2004). "Parasitic Helminths of Black Bear Cubs (Ursus americanus) from Florida". Journal of Parasitology. 90 (1): 173–175. doi:10.1645/GE-127R. PMID 15040687. S2CID 35600104.
- Goldberg, Stephen R.; Bursey, Charles R.; Cheam, Hay (1998). "Helminths of Six Species of Anolis Lizards (Polychrotidae) from Hispaniola, West Indies". The Journal of Parasitology. 84 (6): 1291–1295. doi:10.2307/3284695. JSTOR 3284695. PMID 9920335.
- Heard, Richard W.; Kinsella, John M. (1995). "Levinseniella deblocki, New Species (Trematoda: Digenea: Microphallidae) from Salt Marshes along the Eastern Gulf of Mexico with Notes on Its Functional Morphology and Life History". Gulf Research Reports. 9. doi:10.18785/grr.0902.03.
- Kinsella, John M. (1971). "Angiostrongylus schmidti sp. n. (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) from the Rice Rat, Oryzomys palustris, in Florida, with a Key to the Species of Angiostrongylus Kamensky, 1905". The Journal of Parasitology. 57 (3): 494–497. doi:10.2307/3277901. JSTOR 3277901. PMID 5104560.
- Kinsella, J.M. 1974. Comparison of helminth parasites of the cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus, from several habitats in Florida. American Museum Novitates 2540:1-12.
- Kinsella, J.M. 1988. Comparison of helminths of rice rats, Oryzomys palustris, from freshwater and saltwater marshes in Florida. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington 55(2):275-280.
- Kinsella, J.M; Deblock, S. (1994). "Contribution à l'étude des microphallidae travassos, 1920 (Trematoda)". Parasite. 1 (1): 45–50. doi:10.1051/parasite/1994011045. PMID 9235193.
- Kinsella, J. M.; Heard, Richard W. (1974). "Morphology and Life Cycle of Stictodora cursitans n. Comb. (Trematoda: Heterophyidae) from Mammals in Florida Salt Marshes". Transactions of the American Microscopical Society. 93 (3): 408–412. doi:10.2307/3225444. JSTOR 3225444. PMID 4853269.
- Kinsella, J. M.; Pence, Danny B. (1987). "Description of Capillaria forresteri sp.n. (Nematoda: Trichuridae) from the rice rat Oryzomys palustris in Florida, with notes on its ecology and seasonal variation". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 65 (5): 1294–1297. doi:10.1139/z87-205.
- Kinsella, J.M. and Tkach, V.V. 2005. Notocotylus fosteri sp. nov. (Trematoda, Notocotylidae) from the rice rat, Oryzomys palustris in Florida. Acta Parasitologica 50(3):194-198.
- Kollars, Thomas M. (1996). "Interspecific Differences between Small Mammals as Hosts of Immature Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) and a Model for Detection of High Risk Areas of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever". The Journal of Parasitology. 82 (5): 707–710. doi:10.2307/3283879. JSTOR 3283879. PMID 8885876.
- Kollars, T.M., Jr., Durden, L.A. and Oliver, J.H., Jr. 1997. Fleas and lice parasitizing mammals in Missouri. Journal of Vector Ecology 22(2):125-132.
- Kollars Jr, Thomas M.; Oliver Jr, J. H.; Masters, E. J.; Kollars, P. G.; Durden, L. A. (2000). "Host utilization and seasonal occurrence of Dermacentor species (Acari:Ixodidae) in Missouri, USA". Experimental and Applied Acarology. 24 (8): 631–643. doi:10.1023/A:1026566301325. PMID 11201355. S2CID 44225583.
- Kontrimavichus, V.L. 1985. Helminths of mustelids and trends in their evolution. Amerind Publishing Company, 607 pp.
- Layne, James N. (1971). "Fleas (Siphonaptera) of Florida". The Florida Entomologist. 54 (1): 35–51. doi:10.2307/3493787. JSTOR 3493787.
- Levin, M., Levine, J.F., Norris, D.E., Howard, P., Yang, S. and Apperson, C.S. 1993. Reservoir competence of rice rat and lizards for the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. Pp. 11-13 in Apperson, C.S., Levine, J.F. and Snoddy, E.L. (eds.). Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Lyme Disease in the Southeast. Raleigh: North Carolina State University.
- Levine, Jay F.; Sonenshine, Daniel E.; Nicholson, William L.; Turner, R. T. (1991). "Borrelia burgdorferi in Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) from Coastal Virginia". Journal of Medical Entomology. 28 (5): 668–674. doi:10.1093/jmedent/28.5.668. PMID 1941936.
- Levine, J.F., Apperson, C.S., Strider, J.B., Jr., Levin, M., Ryan, J.R., Howard, P., Coughlin, W., Knight, M. and Yang, S. 1993. Ticks, their hosts, and Borrelia burgdorferi on the outer banks of North Carolina. Pp. 7-8 in Apperson, C.S., Levine, J.F. and Snoddy, E.L. (eds.). Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Lyme Disease in the Southeast. Raleigh: North Carolina State University.
- Lindsay, D. S.; Dubey, J. P.; Blagburn, B. L. (1997). "Biology of Isospora SPP. From humans, nonhuman primates, and domestic animals". Clinical Microbiology Reviews. 10 (1): 19–34. doi:10.1128/CMR.10.1.19. PMC 172913. PMID 8993857.
- Martin, J.W. and Davis, G.E. 2001. An updated classification of the Recent Crustacea. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Science Series 39:1-124.
- Mayer, KA; Dailey, MD; Miller, MA (2003). "Helminth parasites of the southern sea otter Enhydra lutris nereis in central California: Abundance, distribution and pathology". Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 53 (1): 77–88. doi:10.3354/dao053077. PMID 12608572.
- McKeever, Sturgis (1971). "Zonorchis komareki (Mc Intosh, 1939) (Trematoda: Dicrocoeliidae) from Reithrodontomys humulis (Audubon and Bachman)". The Journal of Parasitology. 57 (4): 865. doi:10.2307/3277816. JSTOR 3277816.
- Meagher, Shawn (1999). "Genetic Diversity Andcapillaria Hepatica(Nematoda) Prevalence in Michigan Deer Mouse Populations". Evolution. 53 (4): 1318–1324. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1999.tb04547.x. hdl:2027.42/137238. PMID 28565518. S2CID 21285862.
- Medvedev, Sergei G.; Krasnov, Boris R. (2006). "Fleas: Permanent satellites of small mammals". Micromammals and Macroparasites. pp. 161–177. doi:10.1007/978-4-431-36025-4_10. ISBN 978-4-431-36024-7.
- Morand, Serge; Bouamer, Salah; Hugot, Jean-Pierre (2006). "Nematodes". Micromammals and Macroparasites. pp. 63–79. doi:10.1007/978-4-431-36025-4_4. ISBN 978-4-431-36024-7.
- Morlan, Harvey B. (1952). "Host Relationships and Seasonal Abundance of Some Southwest Georgia Southwest Georgia Ectoparasites". American Midland Naturalist. 48 (1): 74–93. doi:10.2307/2422133. JSTOR 2422133.
- Musser, G.G. and Carleton, M.D. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894-1531 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0
- De Núñez, Margarita Ostrowski (1993). "Life-history studies of heterophyid trematodes in the Neotropical Region: Ascocotyle (Phagicola) diminuta (Stunkard & Haviland, 1924) and A. (P.) angrense Travassos, 1916". Systematic Parasitology. 24 (3): 191–199. doi:10.1007/BF00010532. S2CID 37277408.
- Pisanu, B.; Bain, O. (1999). "Aonchotheca musimon n. sp. (Nematoda: Capillariinae) from the mouflon Ovis musimon in the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen archipelago, with comments on the relationships with A. Bilobata (Bhalerao, 1933) Moravec, 1982 and other species of the genus". Systematic Parasitology. 43 (1): 17–27. doi:10.1023/A:1006119714038. PMID 10613527. S2CID 13242843.
- Pratt, Harry D.; Lane, John E. (1951). "Hoplopleura oryzomydis New Species, with Notes on Other United States Species of Hoplopleura (Anoplura: Haematopinidae)". The Journal of Parasitology. 37 (2): 141–146. doi:10.2307/3273444. JSTOR 3273444. PMID 14841556.
- Pulido-Flores, Griselda; Moreno-Flores, Shayuri; Monks, Scott (2005). "Helminths of Rodents (Rodentia: Muridae) from Metztitlán, San Cristóbal, and Rancho Santa Elena, Hidalgo, Mexico". Comparative Parasitology. 72 (2): 186–192. doi:10.1654/4146. S2CID 84990292.
- Radovsky, Frank J. (2007). "A new species of Ornithonyssus(Acari: Macronyssidae) in western North America and a review of nearctic species". International Journal of Acarology. 33 (3): 223–229. doi:10.1080/01647950708684526. S2CID 84813802.
- Del Rosario Robles, Maria; Navone, Graciela T.; Kinsella, John M. (2008). "A New Angiostrongylid (Nematoda) Species from the Pulmonary Arteries of Akodon azarae (Rodentia: Cricetidae) in Argentina". Journal of Parasitology. 94 (2): 515–519. doi:10.1645/GE-1340.1. PMID 18564753. S2CID 207249699.
- Schmidt, C. A.; Engstrom, M. D. (1994). "Genic Variation and Systematics of Rice Rats (Oryzomys palustris Species Group) in Southern Texas and Northeastern Tamaulipas, Mexico". Journal of Mammalogy. 75 (4): 914–928. doi:10.2307/1382473. JSTOR 1382473.
- Simões, Susana Balmant Emerique; Scholz, Tomáš; Barbosa, Helene Santos; Santos, Cláudia Portes (2006). "Taxonomic Status, Redescription, and Surface Ultrastructure of Ascocotyle (Phagicola) Pindoramensis N. Comb. (Digenea: Heterophyidae)". Journal of Parasitology. 92 (3): 501–508. doi:10.1645/GE-757R.1. PMID 16883992. S2CID 38681594.
- Sinclair, Norman R. (1971). "A Reviewal of Odhneria odhneri Travassos, 1921 (Trematoda: Microphallidae)". The Journal of Parasitology. 57 (5): 980–982. doi:10.2307/3277849. JSTOR 3277849. PMID 5133903.
- Sohn, Woon-Mok; Han, Eun-Taek; Chai, Jong-Yil (2003). "Acanthotrema felis n. sp. (Digenea: Heterophyidae) from the Small Intestine of Stray Cats in the Republic of Korea". Journal of Parasitology. 89 (1): 154–158. doi:10.1645/0022-3395(2003)089[0154:AFNSDH]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0022-3395. PMID 12659320. S2CID 12783216.
- Sonenshine, D.E., Ratzlaff, R., Troyer, J.M., Demmerle, S.M., Demmerle, E., Jenkins, S. and Annis, B. 1993. Tick-host associations and maintenance of Borrelia burgdorferi in Virginia. Pp. 8-9 in Apperson, C.S., Levine, J.F. and Snoddy, E.L. (eds.). Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Lyme Disease in the Southeast. Raleigh: North Carolina State University.
- Tkach, Vasyl V.; Littlewood, D. Timothy J.; Olson, Peter D.; Kinsella, J. Mike; Swiderski, Zdzislaw (2003). "Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Microphalloidea Ward, 1901 (Trematoda: Digenea)". Systematic Parasitology. 56 (1): 1–15. doi:10.1023/A:1025546001611. PMID 12975618. S2CID 4801094.
- Ubelaker, John E. (1986). "Systematics of Species Referred to the Genus angiostrongylus". The Journal of Parasitology. 72 (2): 237–244. doi:10.2307/3281599. JSTOR 3281599. PMID 3525794.
- Underwood, Harold T.; Owen, James G.; Engstrom, Mark D. (1986). "Endohelminths of Three Species of Oryzomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae) from San Luis Potosi, Mexico". The Southwestern Naturalist. 31 (3): 410. doi:10.2307/3671854. JSTOR 3671854.
- Verberg, Winona B.; Hunter, Wanda Sanborn (1961). "Studies on oxygen consumption in digenetic trematodes. V. The influence of temperature on three species of adult trematodes". Experimental Parasitology. 11: 34–38. doi:10.1016/0014-4894(61)90004-2. PMID 13780949.
- Whitaker, J.O. and Hamilton, W.J. 1998. Mammals of the Eastern United States. Cornell University Press, 583 pp. ISBN 978-0-8014-3475-4
- Whitaker, John O.; Wilson, Nixon (1974). "Host and Distribution Lists of Mites (Acari), Parasitic and Phoretic, in the Hair of Wild Mammals of North America, North of Mexico". American Midland Naturalist. 91 (1): 1–67. doi:10.2307/2424511. JSTOR 2424511.
- Whitaker, John O.; Wilson, Nixon (1974). "Host and Distribution Lists of Mites (Acari), Parasitic and Phoretic, in the Hair of Wild Mammals of North America, North of Mexico". American Midland Naturalist. 91 (1): 1–67. doi:10.2307/2424511. JSTOR 2424511.
- Williams, D.C., Wills, W., Durden, L.A. and Gray, E.W. 1999. Ticks of South Carolina (Acari: Ixodoidea). Journal of Vector Ecology 24(2):224-232.
- Wilson, Nixon; Durden, Lance A. (2003). "Ectoparasites of terrestrial vertebrates inhabiting the Georgia Barrier Islands, USA: An inventory and preliminary biogeographical analysis". Journal of Biogeography. 30 (8): 1207–1220. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2699.2003.00894.x. S2CID 85145341.
- Wolfe, J.L. 1982. Oryzomys palustris. Mammalian Species 176:1-5.
- Worth, C. Brooke (1950). "Observations on Ectoparasites of Some Small Mammals in Everglades National Park and Hillsborough County, Florida". The Journal of Parasitology. 36 (4): 326–335. doi:10.2307/3273467. JSTOR 3273467. PMID 15437232.