Prevalence of Tetratrichomonas didelphidis from the Opossum Didelphis albiventris in the Botanical Garden, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

tetratrichomonas didelphidis (hegner and ratcliffe 1927) andersen and reilly 1965 is a flagellate protozoan from the intestine, cecum and colon of didelphis marsupialis linnaeus, 1758. the prevalence of t. didelphidis in opossums d. albiventris was studied in the botanical garden, porto alegre city in the southernmost brazilian state, rio grande do sul, brazil. t. didelphidis was found in seven of eight cultures of swabbed rectums, representing a prevalence of 87.5% in d. albiventris. in the present investigation it was observed that the t. didelphidis found in the intestine content of d. albiventris had the same morphological characteristics as those previously described by other authors in the d. marsupialis, being probably the same protozoan species in both host species.