''Plasmodium cnemaspi'' 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 Hematophagy, blood-feeding insect host (biology), host which then inj ...

'' subgenus '' Sauramoeba''. Like all ''Plasmodium'' species ''P. cnemaspi'' has both

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

Description

The parasite was first described by Telford in 1984.Telford, Jr S.R. (1984) Studies on African saurian malarias: Three ''Plasmodium'' species from gekkonid hosts J. Parasitol. 70 (3) 343-354

Geographical occurrence

This species is found in the

Uluguru Mountains The Uluguru mountains are a mountain range in eastern Tanzania, named after the Luguru people, Luguru tribe. The main portion of the Uluguru mountains is a ridge running roughly north-south and rising to altitude at its highest point. On the ma ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Clinical features and host pathology

This species infects the lizard '' Cnemaspis africana''.

References

cnemaspi {{plasmodium-stub