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New Parasite Genus Described From a Wild Nile Crocodile in Namibia’s Kavango River

Nile crocodile resting on the bank of the Kafue River
Research · Evolution & taxonomy

A parasitological study published in 2026 has described a previously unknown genus and species of fluke from a wild Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) in Namibia’s Kavango River.

Researchers examined the intestine of a large adult male crocodile from the river and found it infected with a flatworm belonging to the family Liolopidae. Detailed anatomical comparisons and genetic analyses showed that the parasite could not be placed in any previously recognised genus. The researchers named the new genus and species Ngubuvangandu francoisjacobsi.

Anatomical traits distinguished the new genus

The parasite is a digenean trematode, a group of parasitic flatworms with complex life cycles. It was distinguished from related liolopids by a particular combination of anatomical features, including the shape of the body, the position and form of the reproductive organs and the distribution of the vitellarium, the tissue that produces cells contributing to egg formation.

The discovery also changed the classification of two previously known crocodilian parasites. The researchers transferred two species formerly placed in the genus Dracovermis to Ngubuvangandu: one known from the West African slender-snouted crocodile and another from the saltwater crocodile.

Genetic analysis reshaped the family tree

Genetic analysis placed Ngubuvangandu as the closest known relative of the genus Liolope. More broadly, the family tree showed that the liolopid parasites found in crocodilians do not form a single exclusive evolutionary branch. The authors therefore found no support for classifying the major liolopid lineages simply according to the type of vertebrate host they infect.

This is the first liolopid parasite formally described from the Nile crocodile and only the second species in this parasite family described from an African crocodilian. The finding expands the known parasite diversity of wild Nile crocodiles and adds new information about the evolutionary relationships within a poorly known group of trematodes.

Sources and image credit

  1. Dutton, H. R., Jacobs, F. J., Beytell, P. C., Netherlands, E. C., DuPreez, L. H., & Bullard, S. A. (2026). New genus and species of Liolopidae Odhner, 1912 (Platyhelminthes: Digenea) infecting Nile crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus (Laurenti, 1768) (Crocodilia: Crocodylidae) in the Kavango River, Namibia. Journal of Parasitology, 112(1), 21–27. https://doi.org/10.1645/25-36Primary peer-reviewed study, published 26 January 2026.

Image: Timothy A. Gonsalves / Wikimedia Commons — Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) on the bank of the Kafue River in Kafue National Park, Zambia, 6 July 2023. Illustrative photograph, not the Kavango individual from the study. · CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Source

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