Chordodes congolensis Sciacchitano, 1933

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 : 2580-2582

Chordodes congolensis Sciacchitano, 1933

( Figure 1 )

Chordodes congolensis Sciacchitano, 1933, p. 52 , figure 2.

Holotype

One ♀, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uélé , TuKu ( Sciacchitano 1933) ( AMT 1406 ) (see comments).

Material examined

SEM of mid-body cuticle. Holotype and 13 ( AMT 1405 ) (see comments), 13 ( AMT 1407 ) (see comments), 1♀ ( AMT 1401 ) (see comments) and 1♀ ( MNHNP 86 ).

Additional specimens

Two 33 ( Sciacchitano 1961a).

Host

Indeterminate Mantis sp. ( AMT 1401) ( Sciacchitano 1933).

Description

Holotype. Body colour dark brown, anterior tip tapering. Terminal end rounded. Cuticle contains seven areolar types: simple, bulging, tubercle, thorn, two types of crowned areoles and circumcluster areoles ( Figure 1A ). Simple areoles oval with grooves over entire surface. Bulging areoles rounded and taller (6.6 µm) than simple ones, surface smooth or with minute spines ( Figure 1A–C ). Tubercle areoles similar to bulging areoles with blunt tubercle on surface ( Figure 1A, B ). Thorn areoles (16.6 µm long) present near simple areoles ( Figure 1C ). Other areolar types occur in clusters of two crowned areoles with crown of short and fine apical filaments, surrounded by 10–12 elevated areoles (the circumcluster areoles, ( Figure 1A, E ). Circumcluster areoles have minute bristles on apex. Interareolar groove crossed by cuticular transversal cord which appears to connect base of areoles. Another type of crowned areoles with long filaments (up to 120 µm) ( Figure 1D ) along ventral midline.

Dimensions

Measurements of the specimens investigated were as follows (length in mm/diameter in mm), 61/0.5 holotype ( Sciacchitano 1933), 190/1.1 ( AMT 1401, as C. madagascariensis Sciacchitano, 1933 ), 130/2, 184/1 ( AMT 30180/81, Sciacchitano 1961a), 135/1.5 ( MNHNP 86, new record).

Comments

Sciacchitano (1933) described Chordodes congolensis from three specimens ( AMT 1405, AMT 1406 and AMT 1407) which he interpreted as females, but Sciacchitano (1958) recognized two of them ( AMT 1405, AMT 1407) as males (also see Schmidt-Rhaesa et al. 2008). A reinvestigation by SEM showed that the specimens from the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Kasai, Ipamu ( AMT 1407) and Flandria ( AMT 1405) had the same cuticular pattern as C. madagascariensis . Therefore, we transferred these specimens to C. madagascariensis . Also, after SEM investigation of the cuticle, we assigned to C. congolensis one indeterminate female from Baga Binari deposited in the collections of Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris ( MNHNP 86) and one female specimen from Bas-Uélé, Gwane ( AMT 1401) that Sciacchitano (1933) described as C. madagascariensis (see Figure 1E ).

Distribution

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Uélé, Tuku (one female ( AMT 1406; Sciacchitano 1933)), Bas Uélé, Gwane (one female ( AMT 1401; Sciacchitano 1933)), Bamania (two males ( Sciacchitano 1961a)), Republic of Guinea: Baga, Binari, Nunez river (one female ( MNHNP 86; new record)).

Figures

Figure 1. Holotype of Chordodes congolensis. (A) Overview of cuticle showing: simple (1), bulging (2), tubercle (3) and cluster of crowned (4) and circumcluster areoles (5); (B) detail of simple, bulging and tubercle areoles; (C) cluster of two crowned areoles with surrounding circumcluster areoles, arrow indicates thorn areole; (D) crowned areoles with long filaments along the ventral midline; (E) cuticle of female specimen (AMT 1401). Scale bars: 50 µm (A, D), 10 µm (B, E), 20 µm (C).