A new species of Aplectana (Nematoda, Cosmocercidae) in Platymantis boulengeri (Anura, Ceratobatrachidae) from Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Aplectana krausi sp. nov. (Ascaridida, Cosmocercidae) from the intestines of Platymantis boulengeri (Anura, Ceratobatrachidae) is described and illustrated. Aplectana krausi represents the 42nd species assigned to the genus, the 4th species reported from the Australo-Papuan region. It is easily separated from the three species previously reported from the region by the distribution pattern of male caudal papillae: A. macintoshii and A. novaezelandiae have irregular patterns; A. zweifeli and A. krausi have defined patterns. Aplectana zweifeli has 8-10 precloacal, no adcloacal, and 9 postcloacal pairs of papillae, there is a single median papillae just anterior to the cloaca; A. krausi has 5 precloacal, 1 adcloacal, and 5 postcloacal pairs of papillae, a median papillae is absent.

Light and scanning electron microscope studies on the nematode Aplectana macintoshii Travassos,1931(Ascaridida:Cosmocercidae) infecting the toad Bufo regularis in Egypt.

“…Furthermore, the male A.macintoshii is smaller in size than that of other species like A. herediaensis (2.5 mm long & 112 um wide), A. artigasi (3.4mm long & 322um wide), A.capensis (2.7mm long), A.degraafi (3.6mm long)and A.Krausi(2.53mm long &152 um wide) as recorded by Bursey et al,(2006), Puga & Torres (1997) and Bursey & Goldberg (2007).…”

“…The presenly described nematode parasite species is evidently a member of the genus Aplectana (Railliet and Henry,1916), where it has the generic characters of Aplectana presented by Yamagui (1961) and Bursey & Goldberg (2007). These characters are females of slightly greater length than males.…”

“…In comparsion to other Aplectana spp., it was observed that female of A. macintoshii is slightly larger in size than that of A. herediaensis (3.1 mm long & 140 um wide) (Bursey et al,2006) and that of A.krausi (3.05 mm long & 234 um wide) (Bursey &Goldberg , 2007) but smaller than that of A. artigasi (5.2 mm & 414.9 um) (Puga &Torres, 1997), and that of A. Capensis (6.4mm long) (Baker, 1981) and that of A. degraafi (4.1 mm long) (Baker,1981). Furthermore, the male A.macintoshii is smaller in size than that of other species like A. herediaensis (2.5 mm long & 112 um wide), A. artigasi (3.4mm long & 322um wide), A.capensis (2.7mm long), A.degraafi (3.6mm long)and A.Krausi(2.53mm long &152 um wide) as recorded by Bursey et al,(2006), Puga & Torres (1997) and Bursey & Goldberg (2007).…”

“…Similarly, male A. degraaffi nematodes are smaller than females and have sharp pointed posterior end (Baker, 1981). In A. capensis, Baker (1981) differentiated male from female through its smaller size and slender tapering posterior end while in A. krausi, the tail is conical slender in the posterior two thirds of male, typically bent ventrally, producing a shallow depression around cloaca (Bursey & Goldberg, 2007).…”

“…Species of Aplectana are cosmopolitan in geographical distribution (Ragoo&Maharaj, 2003;Yildirimhan et al, 2005;Bursey & Goldberg, 2007;Holmes et al, 2008 andRamalho et al,2009) and their infection capability is not restricted to amphibians and reptiles since some of them are also capable of parasitizing salamanders and even fish (Rago & Maharaj, 2003;Saeed et al,2007 andGoldberg, 2007). However, studying scanning and ultrastructure of this nematode remains poor.…”