J. Parasitol., 89(5), 2003, pp. 961–964 q American Society of Parasitologists 2003
FALCAUSTRA GREINERI N. SP. (NEMATODA: KATHLANIIDAE) FROM ORLITIA BORNEENSIS (TESTUDINES: EMYDIDAE) Charles R. Bursey and John M. Kinsella* Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, Shenango Campus, Sharon, Pennsylvania 16146. e-mail:
[email protected] ABSTRACT:
Falcaustra greineri n. sp. from the large intestine of the turtle Orlitia borneensis is described and illustrated. Falcaustra greineri represents the 23rd Oriental species assigned to this genus and is distinguished from other Oriental species by the distribution pattern of caudal papillae (6 preanal, 0 adanal, 14 postanal, and 1 median), length of spicules (1.07–1.33 mm), and absence of pseudosucker.
excretory pore 1.45–1.71 (1.58 6 0.08) from anterior end. Tail length 0.64–0.89 (0.74 6 0.07), curved ventrally, with conical termination. Approximately 40 oblique caudal muscle bands. Single median papilla immediately anterior to cloaca. Ten pairs of sessile caudal papillae, 3 pairs precloacal, 7 pairs postcloacal of which 5 are lateral and 2 are ventral. Phasmid openings laterally situated on tail ventral to penultimate postcloacal lateral papillae. Spicules similar 1.07–1.33 (1.19 6 0.08) in length, slightly curved, stout; alae reaching almost to pointed tips. Gubernaculum 0.20–0.28 (0.24 6 0.02), sclerotized elongated; proximal end rounded, distal end bluntly pointed. Caudal alae absent. Precloacal pseudosucker absent. Female (allotype and 9 paratypes): Length 13.0–17.0 (14.6 6 1.6); width 0.51–0.77 (0.67 6 0.09) at the level of esophageal–intestinal junction. Cuticle with fine transverse striations of approximately 3 mm widths. Vestibule length 0.04–0.08 (0.06 6 0.01), pharynx length 0.69–0.83 (0.77 6 0.05), esophagus length (excluding isthmus and bulb) 0.80–0.92 (0.85 6 0.04), isthmus length 0.26–0.35 (0.31 6 0.03), isthmus width 0.16–0.21 (0.18 6 0.02), bulb length 0.32–0.38 (0.33 6 0.02), and bulb width 0.32–0.38 (0.36 6 0.03). Nerve ring 0.51–0.61 (0.55 6 0.04), excretory pore 1.22–1.41 (1.32 6 0.09) from anterior end. Tail length 1.02–1.28 (1.09 6 0.09). Vulva, transverse slit, salient, 5.4–7.0 (5.9 6 0.6) from posterior end; vagina directed anteriodorsally, giving rise to 2 opposing uteri. Egg oval, length 146–195 mm (174 6 12), width 104–116 mm (111 6 3), thick-shelled, unembryonated (5 eggs each from 5 specimens).
In December 2001, an illegal shipment of live turtles, presumably from Malaysia and intended for the food market in China, was intercepted by Chinese authorities in Hong Kong. Hundreds of these turtles were turned over to the ‘‘Turtle Survival Alliance,’’ who in turn shipped them to various zoos and other organizations in the United States and Europe for rehabilitation. The Miami MetroZoo received 54 Malaysian giant turtles (Orlitia borneensis Gray, 1873) and in the process of deworming the turtles, juveniles and adults of an undescribed species of Falcaustra were collected from feces. A few turtles from this shipment died shortly after arrival; necropsy provided additional specimens of this nematode. Species of Falcaustra Lane, 1915 occur in the digestive tracts of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Of the 68 nominal species listed by Bursey et al. (2000), 22 occur in the Oriental zoogeographical region. This article describes the 23rd species from the Oriental region. MATERIALS AND METHODS The nematodes were fixed in alcohol and cleared in undiluted glycerol for examination with a light microscope. Drawings were made with the aid of a microprojector. Measurements are in millimeters unless otherwise stated. Turtle taxonomy follows that of Ernst and Barbour (1989).
DESCRIPTION
Falcaustra greineri n. sp. (Figs. 1–9) General: Medium-sized nematodes, body cylindrical, tapering posteriorly, truncate anteriorly. Cuticle with fine, regular, and transverse striations. Mouth opening triangular, surrounded by 3 large lips, each with 2 forked papillae. One amphid on each ventrolateral lip. Additional cephalic papillae absent. Esophagus with inflated isthmus and posterior spherical bulb. Pigmented arcade cells in the region of nerve ring. Tail conical in both sexes. Male (holotype, 9 paratypes; range with mean 6 1 SD in parentheses): Length 14.0–17.5 (15.7 6 1.3); width 0.61–0.70 (0.65 6 0.36) at the level of esophageal–intestinal junction. Cuticle with fine transverse striations of approximately 3 mm widths. Vestibule length 0.06–0.08 (0.07 6 0.01), pharynx length 0.70–0.96 (0.80 6 0.08), esophagus length (excluding isthmus and bulb) 0.77–0.93 (0.85 6 0.05), isthmus length 0.26–0.35 (0.31 6 0.03), isthmus width 0.15–0.21 (0.18 6 0.02), bulb length 0.31–0.35 (0.33 6 0.02), and bulb width 0.29–0.38 (0.34 6 0.03). Nerve ring 0.49–0.54 (0.51 6 0.02),
Taxonomic summary Type host: Orlitia borneensis Gray, 1873, Malaysian giant turtle. Type locality: Unknown (presumably Malaysia). Site of infection: Large intestine. Type specimens: Holotype: male, United States National Parasite Collection (USNPC), Beltsville, Maryland, USNPC 92621; Allotype: female, USNPC 92622. Paratypes: 9 females, 9 males, USNPC 92623. Etymology: The species is named after Ellis Greiner in recognition of his work with turtle helminths. Remarks The morphology of the esophageal isthmus of Falcaustra greineri n. sp. allows its assignment to the Kathlaniidae (Lane, 1914) Travassos, 1918, and Kathlaniinae Lane, 1914. Lane (1915) described the posterior portion of the esophagus to be hourglass shaped; B. G. Chitwood and M. B. Chitwood (1974)
Received 22 January 2003; revised 17 April 2003; accepted 17 April 2003. 961
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FIGURES 1–9. Falcaustra greineri n. sp. 1. Female, anterior end, lateral view. 2. Female, en face view. 3. Female, anterior end, dorsal view. 4. Egg. 5. Female, vulvar region. 6. Male, posterior end, ventral view. 7. Female, posterior end, lateral view. 8. Spicules and gubernaculum. 9. Male, posterior end, lateral view.
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TABLE I. Additions and corrections to Table I of Bursey et al. (2000).
Realm Falcaustra sp.
Type of host
Spicule length (mm)
Papillac pattern*
Pseudosucker
Ethiopian F. hinkeli Jackson, 2000 F. puylaerti Jackson, 2000 F. therezieni Petter, 1979
Frog Frog Fish
0.39–0.52 0.12–0.16 0.40–0.60
10-0-12 1 1 10-0-12 1 1 6-2-14 1 1
Absent Absent Absent
Nearctic F. concinnae Mackin, 1936 F. lowei Bursey and Goldberg, 2001 F. washingtonensis Bursey and Aker, 2001
Turtle Frog Salamander
1.07–1.15 0.51–0.56 0.51–0.59
6-0-14 1 1 6-6-8 1 1 6-2-12 1 1
Present Present Absent
1.13
6-0-14 1 1
Present
Turtle Fish
0.45–0.51 0.41–0.44
8-0-38 6-6-8 1 1
Absent Absent
Turtle Fish
1.07–1.33 0.24–0.35
6-0-14 1 1 6-0-14 1 1
Absent Absent
Turtle
0.55–0.60
Oriental F. barbi Baylis and Daubney, 1922 Spironoura kalasiensis Karve and Naik, 1951 Spironoura sudanensis Khalil, 1962 F. bengalensis Manna and Mahapatra, 1989 F. chauhani (Soota, 1975) Petter, 1979 Spironoura chauhani Soota, 1975 F. greineri n. sp. F. nilgiriensis (Soota and Chaturvedi, 1971) Petter, 1979 Spironoura nilgiriensis Soota and Chaturvedi, 1971 F. roberti (Chou and Lowe, 1984) n. comb. Spironoura roberti Chou and Lowe, 1984
Fish
10-0-10
Multiple
* Preanal-adanal-postanal 1 median.
use the term ‘‘subspheriod’’; Chabaud (1978) considered the esophagus to have a spherical isthmus immediately anterior to the bulb. This character is evident in F. greineri (Fig. 1). Species of Falcaustra are distinguished on the bases of characteristics of the male: number and arrangement of caudal papillae, length of spicules, and presence or absence of preanal pseudosuckers (see Table I of Bursey et al., 2000). Falcastura greineri belongs to the group of species lacking a pseudosucker. Oriental species lacking a pseudosucker include Falcaustra bengalensis Manna and Mahapatra, 1989, Falcaustra chauhani (Soota, 1975), Falcaustra falcata (Linstow, 1906), Falcaustra fernandoi (Sathananthan, 1972), Falcaustra khadrai (Karve, 1941), Falcaustra kutcheri Bursey, Platt and Rainwater, 2000, Falcaustra leptocephala (Baylis and Daubney, 1922), Falcaustra nilgiriensis (Soota and Chaturvedi, 1971), Falcaustra pillaii (Sathananthan, 1972), Falcaustra stewarti Baylis and Daubney, 1922, Falcaustra testudinis Baylis and Daubney, 1922, and Falcaustra trilokiae (Signh, 1958). Of these, only F. fernandoi, F. greineri n. sp., F. leptocephala, and F. pillaii have spicules 1 mm or greater in length; F. fernandoi and F. pillaii each have 6 adanal papillae; F. leptocephala has 4 adanal papillae; F. greineri lacks adanal papillae. Since the publication of Bursey et al. (2000), 4 new species of Falcaustra in addition to F. greineri have been described (Jackson, 2000; Bursey and Aker, 2001; Bursey and Goldberg, 2001), Falcaustra concinnae Mackin, 1936, has been reinstated (see Bursey and Goldberg, 2001), and 4 previously described species have been found (Soota and Chaturvedi, 1971; Soota, 1975; Chou and Lowe, 1984; Manna and Mahapatra, 1989). These additions and corrections are presented in Table I. Manna and Mahapatra (1989) suggested that Kathlania brevicaudatum Khan and Yaseen, 1969, Kathlania chiloscyllii Thwaite, 1927,
and Kathlania stromateii Bilquees and Khanum, 1971, be transferred to Falcaustra. Both K. brevicaudatum and K. chiloscyllii were described as having 3 main lips separated from each other by subsidiary lobes, a character of the genus Kathlania (see Chabaud, 1978); thus, we believe that these 2 species were originally assigned to the correct genus. Kathlania stromatelii was described as having 3 lips and a club-shaped esophagus, i.e., the spherical isthmus common to Falcaustra is absent; we believe that further study of this species is necessary but it should not be assigned to Falcaustra. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Christine Miller (Miami MetroZoo), Scott Terrell (Disney Animal Kingdom), and Ellis Greiner (University of Florida), for the opportunity to examine nematodes recovered from Orlitia borneensis.
LITERATURE CITED BURSEY, C. R., AND L. AKER. 2001. Falcaustra washingtonensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Kathlaniidae) from Ambystoma tigrinum melanostictum (Caudata: Ambystomatidae) from Washington State, USA. Journal of Parasitology 87: 1082–1084. ———, AND S. R. GOLDBERG. 2001. Falcaustra lowei n. sp. and other helminths from the Tarahumara frog, Rana tarahumarae (Anura: Ranidae), from Sonora, Mexico. Journal of Parasitology 87: 340–344. ———, S. G. PLATT, AND T. R. RAINWATER. 2000. Falcaustra kutcheri n. sp. (Nematoda: Kathlaniidae) from Geoemyda yuwonoi (Testudines: Emydidae) from Sulawesi, Indonesia. Journal of Parasitology 86: 344–349. CHABAUD, A. G. 1978. CIH keys to the nematode parasites of vertebrates. No. 6. Keys to genera of the Superfamilies Cosmocercoidea, Seuratoidea, Heterakoidea and Subulluroidea. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Farnham Royal, Bucks, U.K., 71 p. CHITWOOD, B. G., AND M. B. CHITWOOD. 1974. Introduction to nematology. University Park Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 334 p. CHOU, L. M., AND C. M. LOWE. 1984. Spironoura roberti sp. n. (Nem-
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atoda: Kathlaniidae) from the Malayan box-tortoise Cuora amboinensis. Malayan Nature Journal 38: 67–72. ERNST, C. H., AND R. W. BARBOUR. 1989. Turtles of the world. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 313 p. JACKSON, J. A. 2000. Two new Falcaustra Lane, 1915 species (Nematoda: Kathlaniidae) from African pipids (Anura). Journal of Natural History 34: 663–677. LANE, C. 1915. Falcaustra falcata an investigation of Oxysoma falcatum von Linstow, 1906. Indian Journal of Medical Research 3: 109–115.
MANNA, B., AND M. S. MAHAPATRA. 1989. Falcaustra bengalensis sp. nov. (Kathlaniidae: Nematoda) from a turtle Geoclemys hamiltoni (Cray, 1831). Indian Journal of Animal Health 28: 133–138. SOOTA, T. D. 1975. Description of a new species of Spironoura Leidy, 1856 (Nematoda; Kathlaniidae) with remarks on some other nematodes. In Dr. B. S. Chauhan commemorative volume, 1975, K. K. Tiwari, C. B. Srivastava, and B. S. Chauhan (eds.). Zoological Society of India, Bhubaneshwar, India, p. 241–245. ———, AND Y. CHATURVEDI. 1971. On two new nematodes from the unnamed collection of the Zoological Survey of India. Zoologischer Anzeiger 186: 153–158.
