Fungal dermatitis associated with Nannizziopsis arthrosporioides in two diplodactylid geckos (Correlophus ciliatus and Rhacodactylus auriculatus).

Abstract

This report describes fungal dermatitis in a breeding colony of diplodactylid geckos (Correlophus ciliatus and Rhacodactylus auriculatus). Following the introduction of one gecko, the introduced gecko and two with indirect contact died with severe skin lesions. Subsequently, four geckos developed diarrhea, melena, emaciation, and dermatitis and died. Histopathologically, all cases showed necrotizing dermatitis with filamentous fungi. Nannizziopsis arthrosporioides was isolated and identified from two geckos, and these two animals were definitively diagnosed with a fatal cutaneous fungal infection caused by N. arthrosporioides. This is the first report of such cases in diplodactylid geckos in Japan. From an epidemiological perspective, we inferred that an outbreak caused by this fungus had occurred in a colony.