The American cockroach Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus, 1758) (Blattodea: Blattidae) has been spreading worldwide by commerce and has successfully adjusted to living with humans. There are many reports of thelastomatid parasitic nematode isolated from P. americana in many countries including USA, Canada, India, Argentina, Bulgaria, but not in Japan. We have investigated the parasitic nematodes in P. americana lab strain and field-captured individuals in Japan and found that Thelastoma bulhoesi (de Magalhães, 1900) (Oxyuridomorpha: Thelastomatidae) parasitizes with high infection rates. We described morphological, molecular, and developmental characters of the parasitic nematode because such information was missing despite it has been discovered more than one hundred years ago. We described morphometrics with DIC microscopy and fine structure of male and female adult with SEM observation. We also reveal the embryonic and postembryonic development of this nematode. This is the first report of a thelastomatid nematode isolated from American cockroach in Japan, and the data showed here is also very useful and fundamental for further analysis of the cockroach and parasite relations.
Rhigonema naylae n. sp. (Rhigonematomorpha: Rhigonematidae) is described from the hindgut of the polydesmid millipede Parafontaria laminata (Attems, 1909) (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae), from Aichi prefecture, Japan. The new species is characterized by having a medium sized body in both sexes, the cephalic collar partially fused to the body cuticle, but not overhanging the body contour; cervical region densely covered in short, fine microtrichs that extend from the posterior margin of the cephalic collar to ca. 1.5 oesophagus lengths posterior to the basal bulb; tail short and conoid, subulate in females and with a short mucron in males; female genital tract of Type 2 according to Adamson (1987); males with a complement of 23 copulatory papillae, one post-cloacal pair lateral and two sub-dorsal. This arrangement of copulatory papillae is typical from the African/Asian species and contributes to the segregation of R. naylae n. sp. from the American/Australasian taxa. Description is supplemented by SEM images. Partial sequences of the D2-D3 LSU rDNA and 18S SSU rDNA were obtained. This constitutes the second species of the genus Rhigonema Cobb, 1898 described from the Japanese archipelago.
Travassosinema claudiae n. sp. is described from the hindgut of the polydesmid millipede Parafontaria laminata (Attems, 1909) (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae) from Aichi prefecture, Japan. Females of the new species resemble T. thyropygi Hunt, 1996 and T. travassosi Rao, 1958 by lacking lateral alae and the constriction of the body posterior to the level of the vulva. T. claudiae n. sp. differs from T. thyropygi by its shorter body and tail, and larger eggs. Also, the nerve ring is located in the procorpus-isthmus junction in opposition to T. thyropygi, where the nerve ring is just anterior to the basal bulb. T. claudiae n. sp. can be differentiated from T. travassosi by its shorter eggs and less extended cephalic umbraculum. Males of T. claudiae n. sp. are more similar to those of T. dalei Spiridonov & Cribb, 2012 by having a similar body length, form of the oesophagus, structures around the cloaca (mid-ventral, digitiform pre-cloacal pair of papillae, a large pair of adcloacal papillae and the anterior lip of cloaca ornamented and with a spatula-like post-cloacal projection), absence of spicule and gubernaculum, and presence of a tail filament. T. claudiae n. sp. differs by the position and type of ornamentation of the large ornamented pair of papillae, by lacking the minute pair of papillae in the tail filament and by the presence of lateral alae. Description is supplemented by SEM images. The phylogeny of the species is inferred by D2-D3 28S LSU rDNA and 18S SSU rDNA. This constitutes the first species of the genus Travassosinema Rao, 1958 described from Japan.
The cosmopolitan land planarian Bipalium kewense Moseley, 1878 (Tricladida: Geoplanidae: Bipaliinae) is recorded for first time from Cuba on the basis of specimens from the Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes, Sancti Spíritus province. Both external morphology and internal anatomy agree with B. kewense features. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) sequences obtained from Cuban individuals form a well-supported clade with other specimens of B. kewense from Europe. This constitutes the first Cuban land planarian identified to species level based on morphological and molecular studies.
Nematodes, belonging to the family Thelastomatidae, are parasites of saprophytic terrestrial arthropods, mainly cockroaches. American cockroach Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus, 1758) has high environmental adaptability, and has been spread worldwide by human activity. There are several reports of thelastomatid parasitic nematodes of P americana in the world. Here, the thelastomatid nematode Hammerschmidtiella diesingi (Hammerschmidt, 1838) (Oxyuridomorpha: Thelastomatidae), isolated from P americana is recorded for the first time in Japan. Through morphometrics, DIC and SEM observations, we confirmed that specimens of the present study agree with previous records of H. diesingi. DNA sequencing of the partial D2/D3 LSU expansion segment of the 28S ribosomal RNA gene revealed that H. diesingi from Japan matches with H. diesingi from other countries. Our contributions are very useful and fundamental for further analysis of the cockroach and parasite relations.
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