Meggittina numida n. sp. (Cyclophyllidea: Catenotaeniidae), a parasite of the Shaw’s jird Meriones shawi (Duvernoy) (Rodentia: Gerbillinae) in Tunisia

Abstract

Meggittina numida n. sp. (Cyclophyllidea: Catenotaeniidae: Skrjabinotaeniinae) is described from the small intestine of the Shaw's jird Meriones shawi (Duvernoy) (Rodentia, Muridae, Gerbillinae) trapped in central Tunisia. The new species can be distinguished from the four other members of Meggittina Lynsdale, 1953 by the high number of proglottids (8-25 vs max. 6) and by the elongated strobila (8.2-60 mm in length vs max. 5.6 mm). M numida n. sp. further differs from M. cricetomydis (Hockley, 1961) in the direction of gravid proglottids; from M. baeri Lynsdale, 1953 in having narrower and much longer strobila; from M. aegyptiaca (Wolfgang, 1956) in the greater number of testes and the larger cirrus-sac; and from M. gerbilli in the position of the genital pore. The diagnosis of Meggittina is amended in order to include the most specific features of M. numida n. sp. as follows: strobila consisting of a small scolex, wide neck and one to twenty-five proglottids. This is the first species of Meggittina described from Tunisia. The taxonomic relationships of Meggittina spp. are discussed in the light of the description of the new species.

A survey study on the helminth parasites of two wild jirds,Meriones shawiandM. libycus(Rodentia: Gerbillinae), in Tunisian desert areas

“…Species of the genus Meggittina are known to be parasites of African and Malagasy Muroïde rodents, Nesomyidae, Cricetidae and Muridae (Lynsdale 1953;Wertheim et al 1986;Jrijer & Neifar 2014). While the newly recorded species M. numida (Jrijer & Neifar 2014) was very frequent in our samples of M. shawi of Bouhedma, a second species of the same genus, M. gerbilli, was represented by only one case, which may be an accidental infection although the occurrence of this species in Meriones has been reported before, in M. crassus, and in many Gerbillus species (Wertheim et al 1986).…”

“…Species of the genus Meggittina are known to be parasites of African and Malagasy Muroïde rodents, Nesomyidae, Cricetidae and Muridae (Lynsdale 1953;Wertheim et al 1986;Jrijer & Neifar 2014). While the newly recorded species M. numida (Jrijer & Neifar 2014) was very frequent in our samples of M. shawi of Bouhedma, a second species of the same genus, M. gerbilli, was represented by only one case, which may be an accidental infection although the occurrence of this species in Meriones has been reported before, in M. crassus, and in many Gerbillus species (Wertheim et al 1986). The fact that M. numida was very frequent in M. shawi of Bouhedma, but rare in specimens of the same species from the other two localities, Dghoumes and Sidi Toui (one case in each locality) and totally absent in M. libycus, can be explained by, on one hand, the fact that the intermediate host is not a part of the diet of M. libycus, which strengthens the difference already mentioned in the diet of these two species of rodents.…”

“…and Hymenolepis dimunita in M. shawi. Additionally, Jrijer and Neifar (2014) described Meggittina numida in M. shawi, a new tapeworm belonging to the genus Meggittina Lynsdale, 1953 (family: Catenotaeniidae) of the order Cyclophyllidea. Recently, Jrijer et al (2015) studied the diversity of nematode parasites of small mammals from Tunisia including M. shawi and M. libycus, and reported four nematode species parasites of these two rodent species: Gongylonema neoplasticum Fibiger & Ditlevsen, 1914;Syphacia obvelata Yamaguti, 1941;Trichuris gerbilli Bernard, 1969 andAcanthocheilonema viteae Chabaud, 1952. Therefore, and given that these two jirds, M. shawi and M. libycus, live close to humans in many arid regions in Tunisia, the aim of the current study is to shed some light on their common helminth parasites (cestodes and nematodes) in these regions, to evaluate their zoonotic potential and the risk of their transmission to humans and domestic animals.…”

Molecular systematics and evolutionary history of catenotaeniid cestodes (Cyclophyllidea)

“…Recently, a new catenotaeniid species ( Meggittina numida ) resembling morphologically S. oranensis was described from Meriones shawi from Tunisia (Jrijer & Neifar, ). The new species was not compared directly with S. oranensis , because of the assumption that they represent different genera.…”

“…; Table ). Meggittina numida Jrijer & Neifar, is considered here a junior synonym of Skrjabinotaenia oranensis (Joyeux & Foley, ; see the section Proposed taxonomical changes). Preliminary phylogenetic analyses based on a larger starting material were used as the primary means of identifying tapeworm species, combined with differences in main morphological features.…”