A species of Schellackia (Apicomplexa: Lankesterellidae) parasitising east and southeast Asian lizards

Schellackia orientalis n. sp. parasitises the Japanese lizard Takydromus tachydromoides on Honshu and Takydromus sexlineatus in Thailand. Merogony and gamogony occur in the epithelium of the small intestine, and octonucleate oöcysts form in the lamina propria. In infections induced by inoculation of infected blood, sporozoites appeared in blood cells 17–56 days post-inoculation, initially in any type of white blood cell but most commonly in macrophages and monocytes. Both erythroid and leucocytic cells were parasitised after five days. This haemococcidian is another component of the symbiotic complex found in Takydromus species of eastern and southeastern Asia.