Recognised for their diversity in apical structure morphology, members of the cestode order Lecanicephalidea Wardle et McLeod, 1952 known to date exhibit relatively mundane and uniform acetabular morphology. A new lecanicephalidean genus, Zanobatocestus gen. n., is proposed for two new species found parasitising the spiral intestine of the striped panray, Zanobatus schoenleinii (Müller et Henle), off Senegal that are highly unusual in acetabular morphology. Unlike the members of the 21 recognised lecanicephalidean genera, which possess simple, uniloculate suckers or bothridia, Zanobatocestus minor sp. n. and Z. major sp. n. possess biloculate bothridia. The form of their apical structures and cocoons readily distinguish the two new species from one another. Zanobatocestus minor sp. n. exhibits an apical modification of the scolex proper that is narrow and elongated, an apical organ that is small and internal, and eggs in cocoons forming linear strands, whereas Z. major sp. n. exhibits an apical modification of the scolex proper that is wide and short, an apical organ that is extensive and primarily external, and eggs in cocoons primarily as doublets with bipolar filaments. Given the typically high host specificity of lecanicephalidean cestodes, as parasites of the only genus and species currently considered valid in the family Zanobatidae, Zanobatocestus gen. n. is likely to remain one of the less specious lecanicephalidean genera.
A new mite species Schizocoptes daberti sp. n. (Acariformes: Chirodiscidae) from Chrysochloris stuhlmanni Matsche (Afrosoricida: Chrysochloridae) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is described. It differs from the closely related species S. conjugatus Lawrence, 1944 in both sexes by distance si-si at least twice longer than si-se (vs these distances are subequal in S. conjugatus); in females by setae cp 30-40 µm long (vs about 65 µm long), and in males by the very weakly sclerotised posterior parts of the hysteronotal shield (vs strongly sclerotised), setae d1 situated anterior to the hysteronotal shield (vs at the hysteronotal shield), and by opened coxal fields III (vs closed). An amended generic diagnosis, including description of immature stages, and a key to named species of Schizocoptes Lawrence, 1944 are provided., Andre V. Bochkov., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Blood films were examined from 154 wild and captive tortoises from four provinces of South Africa, including Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, North West and Western Cape. The five species of chelonians studied were Chersina angulata (Schweigger), Kinixys belliana belliana (Gray), K. lobatsiana Power, K. natalensis Hewitt, and Stigmochelys pardalis (Bell). Two species of haemogregarines, previously reported from Mozambique, were identified in blood films, namely Haemogregarina fitzsimonsi Dias, 1953 and Haemogregarina parvula Dias, 1953. Additional stages of development (trophozoites and probable meronts, merozoites and immature gamonts) in blood preparations from South Africa warranted the redescription of H. fitzsimonsi. A variety of hosts and broad host distribution range were observed for this haemogregarine, with all five species of tortoises parasitized, wild and captive, from all four provinces, in all seasons. In contrast, only two individuals of K. b. belliana and one S. pardalis, all three captive in Kwazulu-Natal, contained H. parvula with encapsulated stages resembling those of Hemolivia mauritanica (Sergent et Sergent, 1904). For H. fitzsimonsi, parasite prevalences, but not parasitaemias, were significantly higher in captive than wild S. pardalis; captive female S. pardalis also showed a significantly greater prevalence of infection than males, but younger, lighter hosts were not significantly more heavily parasitized than older, heavier individuals. The ticks, Amblyomma marmoreum Koch, 1844 and A. sylvaticum (De Geer, 1778), found attached to some tortoises, may prove to be definitive hosts for the two species of haemogregarines observed.
Paramoniezia suis Maplestone et Southwell, 1923 is redescribed from the type and only specimen, and is considered to be a genus inquirendum and species inquirenda, possibly based on a host misidentification. Paramoniezia phacochoeri Baylis, 1927 is redescribed from new material from Phacochoerus africanus (Gmelin) from South Africa and is transferred to Moniezia Blanchard, 1891 as M. phacochoeri (Baylis, 1927) comb. n. A redescription of M. mettami Baylis, 1934, also from Ph. africanus, establishes the independence of the two congeneric species parasitizing warthogs. A new genus, Phascolocestus, is erected for Paramoniezia johnstoni Beveridge, 1976 from vombatid marsupials as Phascolocestus johnstoni (Beveridge, 1976) comb. n., and additional host and distributional data are provided for this species.
This paper reports the collecting of adult beetles and third-instar larvae of Coelocorynus desfontainei Antoine, 1999 in Cameroon and provides new data on the biology of this high-altitude Afromontane genus. It also presents the first diagnosis of this genus based on larval characters and examination of its systematic position in a phylogenetic context using 78 parsimony informative larval and adult characters. Based on the results of our analysis we (1) support the hypothesis that the tribe Trichiini is paraphyletic with respect to both Valgini and the rest of the Cetoniinae, and (2) propose that the Trichiini subtribe Cryptodontina, represented by Coelocorynus, is a sister group of the Valgini: Valgina, represented by Valgus. The larvae-only analyses were about twofold better than the adults-only analyses in providing a phylogenetic resolution consistent with the larvae + adults analyses. Only one of the ten clades was consistently supported by the analyses of both the larval and adult datasets, while the remaining nine were invariably strongly supported by one but not the other analysis, thus highlighting the importance of employing different data sources.
During the last two decades, genotyping of African rodents has revealed important hidden diversity within morphologically cryptic genera, such as Rhabdomys. Although the distribution of Rhabdomys is known historically, its diversity has been revealed only recently, and information about the distribution range of its constituent taxa is limited. The present study contributes to clarifying the distribution of Rhabdomys taxa, primarily in southern Africa, and identifies gaps in our knowledge, by: 1) compiling the available information on its distribution; and 2) significantly increasing the number of geo-localised and genotyped specimens (n = 2428) as well as the localities (additional 48 localities) sampled. We present updated distribution maps, including the occurrence and composition of several contact zones. A long-term monitoring of three contact zones revealed their instability, and raises questions as to the role of demography, climate, and interspecific competition on species range limits. Finally, an analysis of external morphological traits suggests that tail length may be a reliable taxonomic trait to distinguish between mesic and arid taxa of Rhabdomys. Tail length variation in Rhabdomys and other rodents has been considered to be an adaptation to climatic (thermoregulation) and/or to habitat (climbing abilities) constraints, which has still to be confirmed in Rhabdomys.
A sample of chigger mites from bat hosts collected in the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean Sea) is found to include two species. These are the first records of bat-infesting chiggers identified to species in Spain. Chiggers collected from Pipistrellus kuhlii (Kuhl) in Menorca are identified as Oudemansidium komareki (Daniel et Dusbábek, 1959); this species, which was known from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, Crimea, and Azerbaijan, is recorded for the first time in Spain. Chiggers collected from Plecotus austriacus (Fischer) in Formentera are identified as Trombicula knighti Radford, 1954, which was insufficiently described from a bat in Yemen and known only from its type locality. We transfer this species to the genus Trisetica Traub et Evans, 1950 and provide its re-description based on paratypes and the material from the Balearic Islands. The species Sasatrombicula (Rudnicula) balcanica Kolebinova, 1966 is synonymised with T. knighti. One species closely related to T. knighti, Trisetica aethiopica (Hirst, 1926), which was recorded in Ghana, Uganda, South Sudan, and Madagascar, is re-described on the basis of its syntype deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, UK. This specimen is designated as lectotype.
Deserts and semi-deserts, such as the Sahara-Sahel region in North Africa, are exposed environments with restricted vegetation coverage. Due to limited physical surface structures, these open areas provide a promising ecosystem to understand selection for crypsis. Here, we review knowledge on camouflage adaptation in the Sahara-Sahel rodent community, which represents one of the best documented cases of phenotype-environment convergence comprising a marked taxonomic diversity. Through their evolutionary history, several rodent species from the Sahara-Sahel have repeatedly evolved an accurate background matching against visually-guided predators. Top-down selection by predators is therefore assumed to drive the evolution of a generalist, or compromise, camouflage strategy in these rodents. Spanning a large biogeographic extent and surviving repeated climatic shifts, the community faces extreme and heterogeneous selective pressures, allowing formulation of testable ecological hypotheses. Consequently, Sahara-Sahel rodents poses an exceptional system to investigate which adaptations facilitate species persistence in a mosaic of habitats undergoing climatic change. Studies of these widely distributed communities permits general conclusions about the processes driving adaptation and can give insights into how diversity evolves.
The African continent has a rich diversity of fish and amphibians in its inland water systems that serve as hosts for monogeneans of seven genera of the Gyrodactylidae van Beneden et Hesse, 1832. In August 2011, eight gyrodactylid parasites were collected from the gills of two specimens of bulldog, Marcusenius macrolepidotus (Peters), from Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. Morphometric evaluation and sequencing of 18S rDNA confirmed that the specimens represented a species of a new viviparous genus, Tresuncinidactylus wilmienae gen. et sp. n. The attachment apparatus consists of a single pair of large slender hamuli with prominently flattened roots that are connected by a simple, narrow dorsal bar. The ventral bar is small and possesses a thin lingulate membrane but no evident anterolateral processes. There are 16 marginal hooks of one morphological type, but of three different sizes, with large falculate sickles that are proportionaly equal in length to the length of their handles. The two largest pairs of marginal hooks are positioned closest to the opisthaptoral peduncle, the neighbouring two pairs of medium-sized marginal hook sickles are situated along the lateral margins of the opisthaptor. Four pairs of smallest marginal hooks are positioned along the posterior margin of the opisthaptor. The male copulatory organ consists of a muscular pouch armed with approximately 30 gracile spines. Phylogenetic analyses of partial sequences of the 18S rDNA using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference placed the new genus within the lineage of solely African genera and suggests Afrogyrodactylus Paperna, 1968, Citharodactylus Přikrylová, Shinn et Paladini, 2017 and Mormyrogyrodactylus Luus-Powell, Mashego et Khalil, 2003 as genera most closely related to the new genus., Iva Přikrylová, Maxwell Barson, Andrew P. Shinn., and Obsahuje bibliografii