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Background  Species of  Schellackia  Reichenow, 1919 have been described from the blood of reptiles distributed worldwide. Recently,  Schellackia  spp. detected in European and Asian lizards have been molecularly characterised. However, parasites detected in American lizard hosts remain uncharacterised. Thus, phylogenetic affinities between the Old and New World parasite species are unknown.    Methods  In the present study, we characterised morphologically and molecularly the hemococcidian parasites (sporozoites) that infect three lizard hosts from North America and two from South America.    Results  In total, we generated 12 new 18S rRNA gene sequences of hemococcidian parasites infecting New World lizard hosts. By the microscopic examination of the smears we identified  Schellackia golvani  Rogier & Landau, 1975 (ex  Anolis carolinensis  Voigt) and  Schellackia occidentalis  Bonorris & Ball, 1955 (ex  Uta stansburiana  Baird & Girard and  Sceloporus occidentalis  Baird & Girard) in some samples, but the phylogenetic analysis indicated that all 18S rDNA sequences are distant from  Schellackia  species found in Old World lizards. In fact, the hemococcidian parasites detected in the New World lizards (including  S. occidentalis  and  S. golvani ) were closely related to the genus  Lankesterella  Labbé, 1899. Consequently, we suggest these two species to be included within the genus  Lankesterella .    Conclusions  Life history traits of hemococcidian parasites such as the type of host blood cells infected, host species or number of refractile bodies are not valid diagnostic characteristics to differentiate the parasites between the genera  Schellackia  and  Lankesterella . Indeed, lankesterellid parasites with a different number of refractile bodies had a close phylogenetic origin. Based on the phylogenetic results we provide a systematic revision of the North American hemococcidians. Our recommendation is to include the species formerly described in the genus  Schellackia  that infect American lizards into  Lankesterella  (Lankesterellidae) as  Lankesterella golvani  (Rogier & Landau, 1975) n. comb and  L. occidentalis  (Bonorris & Ball, 1955) n. comb.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-017-2405-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

parasites and vectors

Phylogenetic analyses reveal that Schellackia parasites (Apicomplexa) detected in American lizards are closely related to the genus Lankesterella: is the range of Schellackia restricted to the Old World?