Alaria alata (Digenea: Diplostomidae) from Korean Raccoon Dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides koreensis, in Korea

Abstract

We report a species of diplostomid fluke recovered from 3 carcasses of wild Korean raccoon dog, <i>Nyctereutes procyonoides koreensis</i>, in Korea. A total of 107 diplostomid flukes were recovered from the small intestines of Korean raccoon dogs, which were obtained from the Gangwon Wildlife Medical Rescue Center. Worms fixed with 10% neutral formalin were subjected to microscopic observation and those fixed in 70% ethanol were used for molecular genomic analysis. The worm was divided into 2 separate parts, forebody and hindbody, with a total length of 3,020-4,090 (3,855) µm and a width of 1,210-1,770 (1,562) µm. The boat-shaped forebody has a pair of characteristic tentacular appendage, 2 suckers, holdfast organ, and vitelline follicles. The oval to cylindrical hindbody has reproductive organs. The ovary was round or elliptical and located in the anterior of the testes. Two large testes were slightly segmented and tandemly arranged, occupying almost half of hindbody. The short uterus contained a relatively small number of unembryonated eggs sized 130-140×85-96 µm. The partial sequence of 18S rRNA of this fluke was consistent with <i>Alaria alata</i>. Based on the morphological and molecular characteristics, the diplostomid flukes recovered from the small intestine of Korean raccoon dogs were identified as <i>A. alata</i> (Digenea: Diplostomidae).