{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,18]],"date-time":"2026-10-18T03:07:34Z","timestamp":1792292854226,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":69,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]],"date-time":"2025-12-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766966400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]],"date-time":"2025-12-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766966400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Exp Zool Pt A"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Fungal pathogens pose a growing threat to vertebrate biodiversity. In snakes,\n                    <jats:italic>Ophidiomyces ophidiicola<\/jats:italic>\n                    (Oo) has garnered particular concern, although its impact in Europe remains poorly understood. We conducted a season\u2010long, standardized survey of dice snakes (\n                    <jats:italic>Natrix tessellata<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) along the northern shore of Lake Como (Italy) to quantify Oo and ophidiomycosis prevalence, identify the circulating strain, and explore the association with environmental, morphological and behavioral traits. Between March and October 2024, we collected 96\u2009\n                    <jats:italic>N. tessellata<\/jats:italic>\n                    samples (23 sheds and swabs from 73 live individuals; scale clips were also collected from 60 out of the 73 live individuals). These samples were analyzed through qPCR, histopathology, and direct field observations. After excluding four recaptures, the dataset comprised 92\u2009\n                    <jats:italic>N. tessellata<\/jats:italic>\n                    samples (23 sheds and swabs from 69 individuals), of which 49 tested positive for Oo (53.3%). Among live individuals, 26 tested positive (37.7%). Of these, 21 showed clinical signs (i.e., skin lesions; 80.8%), and histology confirmed ophidiomycosis in 10 of 20 tested Oo\u2010positive samples (47.6%). Among the five Oo\u2010positive snakes without skin lesions, only one showed histological evidence of ophidiomycosis. This resulted in \u201cat least apparent\u201d ophidiomycosis (i.e., pooling the case\u2010classification categories \u201cApparent ophidiomycosis\u201d, \u201cOphidiomycosis\u201d and \u201cOphidiomycosis and Oo shedder\u201d) being confirmed in 22 out of 69 live snakes (31.9%), corresponding to an overall disease prevalence of 23.9% (22 out of 92) across the full sample set. All sequenced samples belonged to clade II. Bayesian models revealed that skin lesions predicted both Oo detection and ophidiomycosis, while snout\u2010vent length was inversely related to both pathogen presence and disease, suggesting age\u2010linked susceptibility. Both Oo\u2010positive and diseased snakes had lower body temperatures but showed no clear preference for warmer substrates, suggesting limited or absent behavioral fever. Body\u2010condition index (BCI) did not differ between Oo\/disease\u2010positive and Oo\/disease\u2010negative snakes, suggesting possible host tolerance. An assessment of antipredator behavior revealed a marked reduction in musking among Oo\u2010positive snakes, potentially compromising antipredator defenses. Our findings identify\n                    <jats:italic>N. tessellata<\/jats:italic>\n                    as a possible model for European ophidiomycosis research and highlight the need for multi\u2010season capture\u2013recapture studies.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/jez.70061","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,30]],"date-time":"2025-12-30T03:26:17Z","timestamp":1767065177000},"page":"292-305","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Ophidiomycosis Prevalence and Disease Ecology in a\n                    <i>Natrix tessellata<\/i>\n                    (Laurenti, 1768) Population From Northern Italy"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"345","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7199-0804","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matteo Riccardo","family":"Di Nicola","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d\u2032Aosta Turin Italy"},{"name":"Wildlife Health Ghent, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Ghent University Merelbeke Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-6658-5485","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Colla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability University of Parma Parma Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6688-8848","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kevin P","family":"Mulder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wildlife Health Ghent, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Ghent University Merelbeke Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3303-4464","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Federico","family":"Storniolo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell\u2032Ambiente Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Pavia Pavia Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1388-4266","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elin","family":"Verbrugghe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wildlife Health Ghent, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Ghent University Merelbeke Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6665-2712","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Esposito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d\u2032Aosta Turin Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9334-4280","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Donato A.","family":"Grasso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability University of Parma Parma Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3160-503X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Frank","family":"Pasmans","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wildlife Health Ghent, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Ghent University Merelbeke Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7609-5649","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"An","family":"Martel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wildlife Health Ghent, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Ghent University Merelbeke Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_11_2_1","volume-title":"QGIS Geographic Information System","author":"QGIS Association","year":"2025"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcz.2012.10.001"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.33256\/hj29.4.189206"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-024-55354-5"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-018-30709-x"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.funeco.2015.05.003"},{"issue":"2","key":"e_1_2_11_8_1","first-page":"279","article-title":"Case Definition and Diagnostic Testing for Snake Fungal Disease","volume":"50","author":"Baker S. 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