''Plasmodium intabazwe'' 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 vert ...

'' subgenus ''

Lacertamoeba ''Lacertamoeba'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'' — all of which are parasites. All species in this subgenus infect reptiles. Taxonomy This subgenus was created by Telford to refine the classification of species then given as '' Plas ...

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

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

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 pairs ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are reptiles.

Taxonomy

This parasite was first described by van As ''et al'' in 2016.van As J, Cook CA, Netherlands EC, Smit NJ (2016) A new lizard malaria parasite ''Plasmodium intabazwe'' n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Haemospororida: Plasmodiidae) in the Afromontane Pseudocordylus melanotus (Sauria: Cordylidae) with a review of African saurian malaria parasites. Parasit Vectors 9(1):437

Distribution

This species is found in Africa and nearby islands.

Hosts

This parasite infects the common crag lizard (''

Pseudocordylus melanotus ''Pseudocordylus melanotus'', also known as the common crag lizard or Highveld crag lizard, is a species of lizard found in Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa. '' Pseudocordylus subviridis'' is considered a distinct species by the Reptile Databa ...

'').

References

intabazwe {{plasmodium-stub