Host species and age-specific variation on Hepatozoon prevalence and its effect on body condition in two Neotropical crocodiles

Many populations of species belonging to the order Crocodilia are threatened because of habitat loss and degradation, parasitic diseases, illegal trafficking, and indiscriminate hunting. Although several studies have revealed that crocodiles, caimans, and alligators are frequently infected by Hepatozoon species, the results from studies exploring the costs of these apicomplexan parasites on their reptilian hosts are still scarce and with inconclusive results. Here, we molecularly assessed the prevalence and genetic diversity of Hepatozoon spp. to explore the differences in body condition in captive individuals of two species of neotropical crocodilians with conservation threats, the spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) and the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus). Fourteen percent of spectacled caimans were infected by Hepatozoon caimani, whereas no American crocodiles showed infection. The prevalence of Hepatozoon in spectacled alligators varied along age, where subadult individuals..., , , # Host species and age-specific variation on Hepatozoon prevalence and its effect on body condition in two Neotropical crocodiles

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pc866t1x5](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pc866t1x5)

Data showing *Hepatozoon* infection and body condition in two Neotropical crocodiles (*Caiman crocodilus* and *Crocodylus acutus*).

## Description of the data and file structure

Data are structured as following:

ID: ID of the sampled individual

Year: year of sampling,

Species: crocodilian species

SPRECIES_CODE: species codification for each crocodilian species

Locality: Locality of sampling

Locality_Code: codification for locality of sampling. 1 = CREA, 2 = CHULLACHAQUI, 3 = SELVA VIVA, 4 = TUMBES

Body_mass: in grams, estimated with a digital scale (precision of ± 10 g),

Longitud: total length of individuals measured from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail using a measuring tape (accuracy ± 1mm),

SEXO: sex of sampled individual (1 = male, 2 = female)

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