Neohilgertia venusti Gen. N. SP. N. (Nematoda: Oxyuridae)from Thylamys venustus cinderellus (Thomas) Reig, Kirsch & Marshall, 1985 (Marsupialia: Didelphidae) in Burruyacu, Tucuman, Argentina - Systematic position and possible evolution

Abstract

Neohilgertia gen. n. proposed for Oxyuridae nematodes from Thylamys venustus cinderellus (Marsupialia: Didelphidae) is described. The hypothesis about the possibility of a secondary parasitism for marsupials and the origin of the genus in the African Sciuridae parasite ancestors is discussed

Marmosa paraguayana (Marsupialia: Didelphidae) as a New Host for Gracilioxyuris agilisis (Nematoda: Oxyuridae) in Brazil

“…Specimens of the pinworm found in M. paraguayana described here differ in morphology and morphometry from other oxyurids found in Neotropical marsupials such as Neohilgertia venusti in Thylamys venustus cinderellus (Navone et al, 1990), Didelphoxyuris thylamisis in Thylamys elegans (Gardner and Hugot, 1995), and Monodelphoxyuris dollmeiri in Monodelphis emiliae (Guerrero and Hugot, 2003). However, the general morphology of males, females, and eggs, as well as body measurements of the specimens reported here, are very similar to those of Gracilioxyuris agilisis, a new genus and species recently collected from the cecum of Gracilinanus agilis (Feijó et al, 2008).…”

“…Such information might clarify the ecology and evolution of this nematode. The finding of a common parasitic species for Marmosa and Gracilinanus, coupled with other records of pinworms as didelphid parasites (Navone et al, 1990;Gardner and Hugot, 1995;Guerrero and Hugot, 2003), suggests that pinworms and didelphids share a close evolutionary history that is yet to be better explored. Furthermore, this finding expands the range of the pinworm-didelphid association to southeastern Brazil; formerly, the range was restricted to the southeastern slopes of the Andes (Guerrero and Hugot, 2003) and to central Brazil (Feijó et al, 2008).…”

“…Several individuals were air-dried, mounted on metal stubs, coated with gold (Sputter Coater Balzers SCD050), and examined using a JSM 5800LV scanning electron microscope (JEOL, Tokyo, Japan). Nematodes were then identified by morphological comparison with published descriptions of those found in other didelphid species (Navone et al, 1990;Gardner and Hugot, 1995;Guerrero and Hugot, 2003;Feijó et al, 2008).…”

A new genus and species of pinworm (Nematoda, Oxyuridae) from the gray mouse opossum, Tlacuatzin canescens

“…Among those, four monotypic genera of nematodes infecting arboreal and terrestrial mouse opossums have been described in South America. These include Neohilgertia venusti Navone, Suriano & Pujol, 1990 [8,12,15,21]. Most of these species are characterized by their relatively short tail and by the presence of numerous mamelons on the ventral side.…”

Endoparasites of Fat-Tailed Mouse Opossums (Thylamys: Didelphidae) from Northwestern Argentina and Southern Bolivia, with the Description of a New Species of Tapeworm

“…For the rest of the 15 genera and 77 species of didelphiomorphs in the Neotropics (Gardner, 2005), there are few helminthological records. For example, up to the present time, only 5 species of nematodes are known from fat-tailed mouse opossums in northern Argentina and Bolivia (Navone et al, 1990(Navone et al, , 1991Gardner and Hugot, 1995;Ramallo and Claps, 2007).…”