List of parasites of the marsh rice rat

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. 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. Several species of fleas have been found on the marsh rice rat. ==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 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. 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. 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, 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. ==Footnotes==

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