Plasmodium pessoai
Plasmodium pessoai is a parasite of the genus "Plasmodium". As in all "Plasmodium" species, "P. pessoai" has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are reptiles. Taxonomy. The parasite was first described by Ayala "et al." in 1978. The species is named after Dr Samuel B Pessoa - a parasitologist at the Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil. Morphologically this species appears to be related to "Plasmodium aurulentum". Description. The gametocytes are small and sausage shaped (10.4 x 4.6 micrometres) Immature schizonts often contain a digestive vacuole. Mature schizonts are spherical or bouquet-shaped and produce  22 - 32 merozoites. They may possess an intensely staining magenta or rose-coloured substance in the matrix of the surrounding vacuole. Distribution. This species is found in Costa Rica, Central America. Hosts. "Plasmodium pessoai' is one of the three species known to infect snakes: the other two are "Plasmodium wenyoni" and "Plasmodium tomodoni". This species infects the rat snake ("Spilotes pullatus") and the bush master ("Lachesis muta").