First Helminth Record of the Eiselt Dwarf Snake, Eirenis eiselti (Ophidia: Colubridae) Collected from Türkiye

This study was conducted on museum samples of 110 individuals of Eirenis eiselti (36 ♀♀, 53 ♂♂, 21 juvenile) collected from 17 different locations in the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Anatolia, and Southeastern Anatolia regions of Türkiye between 2005 and 2018 to examine them for helminth parasites. Two helminth species were detected in only two of the 110 host snakes. These were Oochoristica tuberculata (Rudolphi, 1819) from Cestoda and Ascarididae gen. sp., larvae from Nematoda. This study is the first helminthological investigation on Eirenis eiselti, providing valuable insights into the parasitological profile of the species. The species that were found consider as common species in snakes. Future comprehensive studies may help to better understand the helminth fauna of this snake species and the ecological roles of these parasites.