New recording of Kalicephalus sp (nematode) and its histological effect on Eryx jaculus snake in Diwaniyah province / Iraq.

During the period between March 2017 and March 2018, 28 Eryx jaculus snakes were collected by snake-hunting enthusiasts, some by farmers in villages in Diwaniyah, Afak, Hamzah al-Sharqi, Dagara, Nafer and Al-Badair districts of Diwaniyah province. Diagnosis of snake samples in the Museum of Natural History at the University of Baghdad. The results of the current study on the examination 28 snakes revealed that 21 of them were infected with nematode Kalicephalus sp. with a rate of infection reached %75 , and through study sites where the presence of worm nematode it was noted that most of the infections concentrated in the small intestine compared to the stomach and large intestine. The results of the reading of the histological sections prepared from the small ,large intestines and stomach of the snakes in the study showed the presence of tissue changes caused by the parasites in their specimens represented by infiltration of inflammatory cell , degeneration of villi,atrophy , necrosis and local death of some affected tissues,and all results of the current study are new and recorded for the first time in Iraq.