Chordodes madagascariensis ( Camerano, 1893 )

Villalobos, C. De, Zanca, F. & Schmidt-Rhaesa, A., 2009, Revision of the genus Chordodes (Gordiida: Nematomorpha) from Africa IV. Ultrastructural redescription of Chordodes congolensis Sciacchitano, 1933, Chordodes ferox Camerano, 1897, Chordodes madagascariensis (Camerano, 1893), Chordodes mobensis Sciacchitano, 1958 and reinterpretation of Chordodes maculatus Sciacchitano, 1958 and Chordodes kakandensis Sciacchitano, 1958, Journal of Natural History 43 (41 - 44), pp. 2579-2595 : 2585-2586

Chordodes madagascariensis ( Camerano, 1893)

( Figures 3 and 4 )

Gordius madagascariensis Camerano, 1893 .

Chordodes madagascariensis Römer, 1896, p. 284 .

Holotype

One 3 Madagascar, Annanarivo ( Camerano 1893) ( MRSNT G45 ).

Material examined

SEM mid-body and posterior end: Holotype and 1♀ ( AMT 1363 ), 13 ( AMT 1364 ), 13 ( AMT 1368 ), 1♀ ( AMT 1369 ), 13 ( AMT 1370 ), 13 ( AMT 1372 ), 333 ( AMT 1387–1388 ), 13 ( AMT 1389 ), 1♀ ( AMT 20313), 233 ( AMT 23583–23584 ), 1♀ ( AMT 25695), 13 ( AMT 25700), 13 ( AMT 25920), 13 ( AMT 31113).

Host

Indeterminate mantid: ( MRSNT G45; Camerano 1893), ( AMT 1370, AMT 1372; De Beauchamp 1916); ( AMT 1405, AMT 1407 as C. congolensis Sciacchitano, 1933 ); ( AMT 25920; Sciacchitano 1958); ( AMT 13575; Sciacchitano 1961b). Sphodromantis scutata ( AMT 1364; De Beauchamp 1916). Sphodromantis lineola (Burmeister, 1838) ( AMT 1369; De Beauchamp 1916); Mantis religiosa Linnaeus, 1758 ( AMT 23583– 23584, AMT 25700; Sciacchitano 1958).

Description

Body colour varies from medium to dark brown in males. Females dark brown. Anterior tip tapering, distinctly lighter. Male posterior end rounded. Cloacal opening slit like and surrounded by circumcloacal bristles. Anterolateral of cloacal opening with two fields of bristles ( Figure 3A, B ). Female posterior end slightly invaginated, probably due to desiccation ( Figure 3C ). Cloacal opening terminal.

Cuticle ( Figure 3D, E ) includes simple, thorn, tubercle, crowned areoles. Simple areoles rounded, slightly elevated, have a surface with very short projections ( Figure 3D ). Between them, scarce thin tubercles. Thorn and tubercle areoles occur quite scattered on the cuticular surface ( Figure 3D ). Thorn areoles surrounded by two or three basal structures that appear to represent areoles ( Figure 3D ). Crowned areoles highly elevated above the cuticular surface, occurring in clusters of 19–23 areoles. Apical crown of filaments of crowned areoles very short (4.3 to 5.1 µm long) ( Figure 3E ). In some parts of cuticle two areolar clusters arranged very close to each other ( Figure 4A ). In males, crowned areoles with short apical filaments occur over whole body surface ( Figure 4B ), but in females, a second type of crowned areoles with very long filaments (up to 38.5 µm) occur in a double row along both sides of ventral midline ( Figure 4C ).

Dimensions

Measurements of the specimens investigated were as follows (length in mm/diameter in mm), 188/1.2 holotype ( Camerano 1893), 321/2.2 ( AMT 1363; De Beauchamp 1916), 210/1.3 ( AMT 1364; De Beauchamp 1916), 163/1.5 ( AMT 1368; De Beauchamp 1923),174/1.6 ( AMT 1369; De Beauchamp 1916), 140/1.2 ( AMT 1370; De Beauchamp 1923), 175/1.2 ( AMT 1372; De Beauchamp 1923), 150/0.6, 151/0.7, 152/0.7 ( AMT 1387- 1388; Sciacchitano 1933), 121/0.1, 150/1 ( AMT 1407, AMT 1405; as C. congolensis Sciacchitano, 1933 ), 98/1.2 ( AMT 20313; Sciacchitano 1958), 119/0.6, 128/0.8 ( AMT 23583–23584; Sciacchitano 1958), 315/2.1 ( AMT 25695; Sciacchitano 1958), 2140/1.5 ( AMT 25700) 159/1.1 ( AMT 25920; Sciacchitano 1958), 180/1 ( AMT 31113; Sciacchitano 1961a). According to the literature: 214/2 ( AMT 13575; Sciacchitano 1961b), 223/1 ( AMT 13618; Sciacchitano 1961b).

Comments

Camerano (1893) described a new species, Gordius madagascariensis , from a single female specimen. Römer (1896) transferred this species to the genus Chordodes . In 1897 Camerano re-studied this specimen and enlarged the description, noting that the characteristics of the posterior end corresponded to a male. Camerano (1893, 1897) described the cuticle of Chordodes madagascariensis with three areolar types simple, circumcluster and crowned areoles. Our SEM investigation showed simple, thorn, tubercle and clusters of crowned areoles, but could not found circumcluster areoles. We considered that all of these clusters of areoles are crowned areoles because all of them have a crown of apical filaments. On the other hand, circumcluster areoles may be without structure or carry apical fine bristles ( Schmidt-Rhaesa et al. 2008). In 1933, Sciacchitano identified one female ( AMT 1389) from Democratic Republic of Congo, Sankuru Kondue, and one male ( AMT 25700) from Kinshasa (as Leopoldville) Kalina ( Sciacchitano 1958) as C. madagascariensis . However, an SEM investigation showed the same pattern of the cuticle as in Chordodes africanus ( Zanca, De Villalobos et al. 2006) . Also two other specimens, one female ( AMT 1401) from Democratic Republic of Congo, Gwane, Bas-Úelé ( Sciacchitano 1933) and one male ( AMT 31113) from Tshuapa that Sciacchitano (1961a) included as C. madagascariensis , proved to belong to Chordodes congolensis and C. kolensis respectively, as revealed by reinvestigation (Zanca, Schmidt- Rhaesa et al. 2006). We also identified as C. madagascariensis two males ( AMT 1405, AMT 1407) which were described by Sciacchitano (1933) as C. congolensis . This investigation also showed that gender assignment in specimens AMT 1372 ( De Beauchamp 1923), AMT 1389, AMT 1387–1388 ( Sciacchitano 1933) was wrong because they are males. The female ( AMT 1369) varies in some respects from the other specimens, having simple areoles with a smooth surface and more numerous thorn areoles.

Distribution

Angola: Dundo (one male ( AMT 13575; Sciacchitano 1961b)); Calonda (one male ( AMT 13618; Sciacchitano 1961b)). Democratic Republic of the Congo: Katanga, Elizabethville Mission Stappers (one male and one female ( AMT 1364; Beauchamp 1916)); Lunda, Kasongo (one female ( AMT 1369; Beauchamp 1916)); Kitempuka (one female ( AMT 1371; Beauchamp 1916)); Wombali, Bandundu (one male ( AMT 1368; Beauchamp 1923)); Lualuabourg (one male ( AMT 1370; Beauchamp 1923)); Mayumbe (one female ( AMT 1372; Beauchamp 1923)); Lubumbashi (as Elisabethville) (one male, one female ( Sciacchitano 1932)); Province Equateur, Flandria, South of Ingende (one male ( AMT 1405; as C. congolensis Sciacchitano, 1933 )); Kasai Ipamu (one male ( AMT 1407; as C. congolensis Sciacchitano, 1933 )); Boma (three males ( AMT 1387, AMT 1388; Sciacchitano 1933)); Equateur, Flandria (one female ( AMT 20313; Sciacchitano 1958)); Boende (two males ( AMT 23583, AMT 23584; Sciacchitano 1958)); Kinshasa (one female ( AMT 25695; Sciacchitano 1958)); Isle Biana, Lokandu, Maniema (one male, one female ( AMT 25920; Sciacchitano 1958)); Guinea (as French Guinea): Fauta Osalan (one male, two females ( Camerano 1915)); Madagascar: Antananarivo (as Annanarivo) (one male ( MRSNT G45; Camerano 1893)).

Figures

Figure 3. Holotype of Chordodes madagascariensis. (A) Ventral view of the male posterior end, showing the cloacal opening; (B) detail of the male posterior end with the cloacal opening surrounded by circumcloacal bristles and two rows of bristles (bristlefields); (C) posterior end of the female; (D) cuticle of the lateral side of the body with simple, tubercle (arrow) and thorn areoles (double arrow); (E) cluster of crowned areoles on the male. Scale bars: 100 µm (A), 50 µm (B), 200 µm (C), 10 µm (D), 20 µm (E).

Figure 4. Chordodes madagascariensis. (A) Holotype. Two areolar clusters of crowned areoles arranged very close to each other; (B) holotype. Detail of cluster of crowned areoles; (C) crowned areoles with long filaments along the ventral midline of the female specimen (AMT 1405). Scale bars: 20 µm (A, C), 10 µm (B).