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Microphotographs of Gymnophalloides nacellae (Gymnophallidae) from Patagonian coast, Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. a Emerged cercaria in vivo stained with Neutral Red, ventral view. b Adult in toto stained with Gomori trichrome, ventral view. c Adult in toto stained with Gomori trichrome, dorsal view. c ceca, e eggs, ev excretory vesicle, o ovary, os oral sucker, pg penetration glands, ph pharynx, t testis, vg vitelline gland, vp ventral pit, vs ventral sucker. Scale bars: a 10 µm, b, c = 100 µm
Source publication
This is an integrative study of a potential zoonotic digenean from the Magellanic Southwestern Atlantic coast. The life cycle of the gymnophallid Gymnophalloides nacellae Cremonte, Pina, Gilardoni, Rodrigues, Chai and Ituarte, 2013 (Digenea) at the type locality, Puerto Deseado (47° 45′ S, 65° 51′ W), Santa Cruz province, was elucidated. This digen...
Citations
Abstract Ecto and endoparasites of four species of coastal birds, Haematopus ater, Larus dominicanus, Leucophaeus scoresbii (Charadriiformes), and Lophonetta specularioides (Anseriformes), are reported from Puerto Deseado on the Patagonian coast, Argentina. Only H. ater was infested with lice (Phthiraptera), belonging to 2 species (Ischnocera, Amblycera). A total of 19 helminth species were found parasitizing the coastal birds studied: 4 cestodes (1 Tetrabothriidae, 3 Cyclophyllidea); 11 trematodes (2 Gymnophallidae, 3 Microphallidae, 2 Notocotylidae, 1 Philophthalmidae, 2 Renicolidae, 1 Schistosomatidae); 3 nematodes (1 Anisakidae, 2 Acuariidae); and 1 acanthocephalan (Polymorphidae). Although some isolated records have been previously reported for these birds, the present work provides a parasitofauna study for H. ater, L. scoresbii, and L. specularioides for the first time. Endoparasites reflected the feeding habits of the birds; the parasite assemblage of L. dominicanus was the richest, indicating their wide prey spectrum and the diversity of the habitats frequented. A great species richness of trematodes, whose life cycles are partially known, suggests that L. specularioides feeds upon crustaceans and small bivalves. The blackish oystercatcher H. ater preys upon the limpet Nacella magellanica which hosts two larval trematodes corresponding to the adults found parasitizing it.
Via morphological and molecular analysis we describe a new species of notocotylid, Paramonostomum deseado n. sp., parasitizing Haematopus ater from Argentina and we contribute to elucidate its life cycle. Within this genus, four groups can be morphologically distinguished according to body shape: "Oval", "Pyriform", "Elongate", "Overlong". The new species belongs to “Elongate group”, which presents a wide variation in body length (597 to 4,500 µm). The new species, P. caeci from Australia, P. actitidis from Caribbean and P. alveoelongatum from Russia share the smallest range of body size in this group (< 1,130 µm). The new species more closely resembles to P. actitidis but differs from it by cirrus-sac length, which is shorter in the new species (97-146 vs. 280-430 µm in P. actitidis), and egg size which is larger in the new species (25-33 vs. 18-20 µm in P. actitidis). Paramonostomum deseado n. sp. uses the limpet Nacella magellanica as both first and second intermediate hosts in which metacercariae encyst inside the redia. This is the first abbreviated cycle described for notocotylid species. Ribosomal RNA sequences provided for adults (ITS1, ITS2, and 28S) and metacercariae inside the rediae (ITS1) support the species identification and the correspondence among stages. Phylogenetic analysis based on 28S placed P. deseado n. sp. close to other Notocotylus spp. and Paramonostomum anatis. Molecular results demonstrate that the hosts involved in the life cycles and the habitat more than morphological differences are determining the phylogenetic relationships in members of Notocotylidae.
