Plasmodium marginatum

Plasmodium marginatum is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Sauramoeba. As in all Plasmodium species, P. marginatum has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are reptiles.

Taxonomy
The parasite was first described by Telford in 1979. This species had previously been considered to be Plasmodium tropiduri.

Description
All stages tend to lie along the erythrocyte margin.

While mature schizonts appear to be like flattened fans with 3 to 8 merozoites, immature schizonts are highly amoeboid.

Gametocytes are smaller than erythrocyte nuclei.

Distribution
This species is found in Central America and South America.

Hosts
The only known host is the anole lizard Anolis frenatus.