''Plasmodium marginatum'' is a parasite of the genus ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a ver ...

'' subgenus ''

Sauramoeba ''Sauramoeba'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'', all of which are parasitic eukaryotes. The subgenus was created in 1966 by Garnham. Species in this subgenus infect reptiles. Description The original criterion for inclusion in this ...

''. As in all ''Plasmodium'' species, ''P. marginatum'' has both

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...

and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are reptiles.

Taxonomy

The parasite was first described by Telford in 1979.Telford SR Jr. (1979) A taxonomic reconsideration of some ''Plasmodium'' species from iguanid lizards. Ann. Parasitol. Hum. Comp. 54(2):129-144 This species had previously been considered to be ''

Plasmodium tropiduri ''Plasmodium tropiduri'' is a parasite of the genus ''Plasmodium'' subgenus '' Lacertaemoba''. As in all ''Plasmodium'' species, ''P. tropiduri'' has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are reptiles. This sp ...

''.

Description

All stages tend to lie along the erythrocyte margin. While mature schizonts appear to be like flattened fans with 3 to 8 merozoites, immature schizonts are highly amoeboid. Gametocytes are smaller than erythrocyte nuclei.

Distribution

This species is found in Central America and South America.

Hosts

The only known host is the anole lizard '' Anolis frenatus''.

References

marginatum {{plasmodium-stub