The Haile Quarry or Haile sites are an Early Miocene and Pleistocene assemblage of vertebrate fossils located in the Haile quarries, Alachua County, northern Florida. The assemblage was discovered during phosphate mining, which began in the late 1940s. Haile sites are found in the Alachua Formation. Two sites within the Ocala Limestone yielded Upper Eocene Valvatida and mollusks.
Aonchotheca forresteri is a parasitic nematode that infects the marsh rice rat in Florida. Occurring mainly in adults, it inhabits the stomach. It is much more common during the wet season, perhaps because its unknown intermediate host is an earthworm that only emerges when it rains. The worm was discovered in 1970 and formally described in 1987. Originally classified in the genus Capillaria, it was reclassified in Aonchotheca in 1999. A. forresteri is small and narrow-bodied, with a length of 13.8 to 19.4 mm in females and 6.8 to 9.2 mm in males. Similar species such as A. putorii differ in features of the alae and spicule, the size of the female, and the texture of the eggs.
Taenia rileyi is a tapeworm of the genus Taenia from the United States. Adults infect bobcats and feral domestic cats, but larvae have been found in rodents such as the cotton mouse, the marsh rice rat in Florida, and the hispid cotton rat in Florida and Georgia. These rodents may serve as intermediate hosts.
Cladotaenia circi is a tapeworm of the genus Cladotaenia that has birds of prey as its definitive host, such as the western marsh harrier, hen harrier, and peregrine falcon in Europe. It has been found at low frequencies in small mammals, such as the bank vole and common vole in Hungary and the marsh rice rat in Florida.
Catatropis johnstoni is a fluke from the United States. It was first described in 1956 by Martin, who had found cercariae released by the snail Cerithidea californica in southwestern California. When the cercaria were fed into chickens, they developed into mature worms; Martin speculated that the natural host was a waterbird. In 1970, a study of helminths of the marsh rice rat in a saltmarsh at Cedar Key, Florida, found flukes similar to C. johnstoni. The fluke was present in 30% of 110 examined rice rats, with the number of worms per rat varying from 1 to 500. Some Cerithidea scalariformis snails from this marsh also released cercariae similar to C. johnstoni from California. When introduced into chickens, marsh rice rats, Mongolian gerbils, golden hamsters, and house mice, these cercariae developed into infectious flukes. Bush and Kinsella, who reported on the result in 1972, regarded the Florida and California flukes as the same species, as there were only minor size differences between them. Because no marsh-inhabiting rodent occurs in both California and Florida, they agreed with Martin that the normal host of C. johnstoni was most likely a bird, perhaps a rail or shorebird. Nevertheless, the rate of infection in the rice rat is too high for it to be just an accidental host; perhaps C. johnstoni is restricted to saltmarshes but not host-specific.
Stenoponia americana is a species of large flea in the family Hystrichopsyllidae. It is widespread in North America east of the Great Plains and is found mainly on rodents, notably deermice (Peromyscus) and voles (Microtus). In Missouri, it has been recorded on the fox squirrel, brush mouse, cotton mouse, prairie vole, woodland vole, and white-footed mouse. Hosts recorded in Tennessee include the northern short-tailed shrew, woodland vole, white-footed mouse, hispid cotton rat, marsh rice rat, and house mouse. In South Carolina, recorded hosts include the cotton mouse, hispid cotton rat, and marsh rice rat.
Polygenis gwyni is a flea that commonly infects the hispid cotton rat in the southern United States; it is also frequently found on other species ecologically associated with the cotton rat. Hosts recorded in South Carolina include the cotton rat as well as the Florida woodrat, cotton mouse, marsh rice rat, and brown rat.
Microphallus basodactylophallus is a species of digenean parasite in the family Microphallidae. It was first described in 1969, as Carneophallus basodactylophallus, from southern Louisiana, where the raccoon is the definitive host, the first intermediate host is the snail Lyrodes parvula, and the second intermediate host is the crab Callinectes sapidus. It was later moved to the genus Microphallus. In 1988, John Kinsella recorded it from the marsh rice rat in a saltmarsh at Cedar Key, Florida. There, it was one of the most prevalent parasites in the marsh rice rat and used C. sapidus as an intermediate host.
Capillaria gastrica is a parasitic nematode in the genus Capillaria. Among the known host species are the marsh rice rat and deermouse.
Mastophorus muris is a parasitic nematode in the genus Mastophorus. It infects animals such as the marsh rice rat, hispid cotton rat, and singing vole.
Amblyomma maculatum is a species of tick in the genus Amblyomma. Immatures usually infest small mammals and birds that dwell on the ground; cotton rats may be particularly favored hosts. Some recorded hosts include:
Androlaelaps fahrenholzi is a species of mite in the genus Androlaelaps of the family Laelapidae. It occurs throughout the contiguous United States, where it has been recorded on the following mammals:
Listrophorus is a genus of parasitic mites in the family Listrophoridae. North American species with their hosts include:
Pterygodermatites ondatrae is a species of parasitic nematode in the genus Pterygodermatites. It has been recorded in the hispid cotton rat in Florida and Texas. In Florida, it has also been recorded on the marsh rice rat, together with an unnamed species of the same genus, the female of which cannot be distinguished from that of P. ondatrae.
Pterygodermatites is a genus of parasitic nematodes in the family Rictulariidae. Their life-cycle is complex. Species include:
Physaloptera hispida is a parasitic nematode in the genus Physaloptera. It has been found on the marsh rice rat, hispid cotton rat, Florida mouse, cotton mouse, and oldfield mouse in Florida.
Trichostrongylus affinis is a species of parasitic nematode in the genus Trichostrongylus. It primarily infects cottontails (Sylvilagus), but has also been found in the hispid cotton rat and the marsh rice rat.
Trichostrongylus sigmodontis is a species of parasitic nematode in the genus Trichostrongylus. It primarily infects the hispid cotton rat, but has also been found in the marsh rice rat.
