Halipegus dubius Klein, 1905 (Trematoda, Hemiuridae): a redescription, with notes on the working of the ovarian complex

Abstract

A redescription of Halipegus dubius Klein, 1905, of Brazilian frogs Leptodactylus pentadactylus and L. ocellatus, is presented. The parasite was found exclusively in the buccal cavity, in number varying from 1 (in most instances) to 3, and exceptionally 25 (one instance). Morphological data were based on 40 whole-mounted specimens and 4 serially sectioned ones. Larval development takes place in planorbid snails (Biomphalaria glabrata and B. tenagophila) and in an undetermined species of cyclops. Working of the ovarian complex was followed by microscopical observation of life specimens. Constrating with the similarity of the four American species of Halipegus currently recognized as valid, they can be easily separated by the characters of their cercariae

Halipegus eschi n. sp. (Digenea: Hemiuridae) in Rana vaillanti from Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica

“…Previously described species of Halipegus have 2 clusters of 4-6 vitelline follicles, with the number never being identical on both sides, and the smaller number occurring on the side where the posterior testis and ovary are situated (Rankin, 1944;Paraense, 1992;Zelmer and Esch, 1999). The number of vitelline follicles in H. eschi is more variable, and in 1 specimen, the smaller number was associated with the posterior testis.…”

Chytrid fungus parasitizing the wild amphibian Leptodactylus ocellatus (Anura: Leptodactylidae) in Argentina

“…Other parasites that have been reported for Leptodactylus ocellatus include Hannemania minor (Alzuet & Mauri 1985), frequently observed in this and other species of the region, as well as various species of nematodes and trematodes (Baker & Vaucher 1985, 1986, Kohn & Fernandez 1988, Rodrigues et al 1990, Paraense 1992). …”

Exploring Neotropical anuran parasites: a morphological, life cycle and phylogenetic study of Catadiscus marinholutzi (Trematoda: Diplodiscidae)

“…A new exam was performed after an overnight period (Fernandez et al, 2008). Subsamples of the snails collected were used for taxonomic identification, which was based on morphological traits, according to Paraense andDeslandes (1956, 1957) and PAHO (1968).…”

“…This scientific gap is more pronounced in South America, where despite the great diversity of these parasites reported in amphibians, either as definitive or second intermediate hosts (Hamann and González, 2009;Campião et al, 2014;Fernandes and Kohn, 2014;Hamann et al, 2019Hamann et al, , 2020aQueiroz et al, 2019Queiroz et al, , 2020, most species remain with their life cycle and phylogenetic position unknown. In fact, only one species of trematode that uses anurans as definitive hosts (Halipegus dubius Klein, 1905) had its life cycle elucidated by experimental studies in South America (Paraense, 1992;Ostrowski de Núñez and Gil de Pertierra, 2004). Moreover, only recently have trematodes from anurans been studied by molecular means in this continent (Gomes et al, 2013;Queiroz et al, 2019;Hamann et al, 2020b).…”