Filamentous fungi present in the cloaca of Chelonoidis carbonaria raised as pets in two urban areas in Northeast Brazil

ABSTRACT It is common to find the tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonaria) as an unconventional pet. Sharing the environment with humans can facilitate the dispersion of microorganisms from their microbiota. However, there is a lack of information regarding the composition of the mycobiota of reptiles. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the diversity of the cloacal mycobiota of C. carbonaria in the non-conventional pet condition, according to the collection sites (different altitudes and microclimates), sex, morphometric data, and seasonality. The macro and microscopic characteristics of each fungal isolate were assessed to identify them. Some were identified by MALDI-TOF. Furthermore, a study of fungal richness was carried out, where the difference in richness between the predictor variables (collection site, seasonality, and sex) was determined, as well as the dominance and diversity. The genera Mucor (20.3%), Fusarium (12.9%), and Aspergillus (11.1%) stood out as the most frequent. Females showed significant richness compared to males; the Shannon-Weaver index showed greater diversity for this variable. Differences in groupings (males and females) in this variable may manifest specific characteristics, especially related to reproduction, potentially influencing the mycobiota of filamentous fungi in these animals.