Entomelas floresvillelai, Martínez-Salazar, Elizabeth A. & León-Règagnon, Virginia, 2005

Martínez-Salazar, Elizabeth A. & León-Règagnon, Virginia, 2005, Two new species of Entomelas (Nematoda: Rhabdiasidae), para­ sites of Barisia spp. and Mesaspis spp. (Reptilia: Sauria) in Mexico, Zootaxa 958, pp. 1-12 : 6-8

Entomelas floresvillelai n. sp.

( Figs 3–4 )

Description

Description (based on 7 parthenogenic female specimens): Body stout, anterior end truncated. Cuticle thin, smooth. Length 5–6.28 (5.38±0.46) mm, maximum width 160–207 (184±15). Oral opening with six cuticular inflations flattened (2 subdorsal, 2 subventral and 2 lateral). 2 lateral small amphids near to lateral inflations. Buccal capsule 23–27 (24±1) deep, 39–43 (41±2) wide. Lumen extending into cone­shape depression in anterior extremity of esophagus. Six onchia equal in shape, situated closer to posterior buccal capsule walls. Esophagus length 597–678 (635±52), 11.94–10.80 (11.81) % of BL. Muscular region 50–66 (56±5) wide, glandular region 58–74 (64±5) wide. Esophageal bulb 97–112 (102±4) wide, slightly inflated corpus. Nerve ring at 244–291 (264±20) from the anterior end. Minute deirids present at level of excretory pore. The excretory system with prominent pair of elongated excretory glands not reaching the anterior extremity of the esophagus. Vulva equatorial, lips slightly prominent. Distance from anterior end to vulva 2.50– 3.38 (2.71±0.30) mm, 50–53.82 (50.37) % of BL. Tail conical, 225–353 (276±43) long, 4.5–5.62 (5.13) % BL, blunt termination. Eggs numerous, embryonated, 58–93 (81±11) long, 39–50 (46±4) wide.

Taxonomic summary

Type host and locality: Barisia imbricata Wiegmann, 1828 (symbiotype UTA­51932), collected in Cerro San Felipe, Oaxaca, Mexico (17°13’44”N; 96°43’37”W, 2450 m).

Other Records: Barisia herrerae , MZFC 17396; San José El Toto, Cuernavaca­ Ocuilán Road, Estado de México (18°59’23.6”N; 99°21’49.3”W, 2583 m). Mesaspis viridiflava , UTA­R51948; Sierra Mixe, 8.6 mi W Totontepec, Oaxaca, Mexico (17°11’40”N; 96°03’48”W, 2606 m).

Site of infection: Lungs.

Specimens deposited: Holotype, parthenogenic female, CNHE 5246; paratypes 5247, 5248, 5249, vouchers 5259 and 5260.

Etymology: The new species is named after Oscar Flores Villela for his contribution to the knowledge of the Mexican herpetofauna.

Remarks

We have assigned our specimens to Entomelas Travassos, 1930 based on the presence of onchia (teeth) on the posterior wall of the subspherical buccal capsule and the dense cuticular walls of uniform thickness forming the buccal capsule. The presence of onchia differentiate species of Entomelas from species of Kurilonema Szczerbak and Sharpilo, 1969 and Neoentomelas Hasegawa 1989 ( Kuzmin and Sharpilo, 2002) . The Mexican species of Entomelas described herein differ from the Old World species principally by the equatorial location of the vulva (Bursey and Goldberg, in press) and the excretory glands not exceeding the length of the esophagus bulb ( Sharpilo, 1976). Entomelas campbelli most closely resembles E. duellmani , both species having similar measurements of the buccal capsule, but differing in the shape of the tail (blunt tip in E. duellmani vs. conical, tapering to sharply pointed terminal end in E. campbelli ), body length, egg size, esophagus length, and the length/body length ratio ( Table 2 ). Entomelas floresvillelai presents a blunt tail tip as does E. duellmani , but differs in body length and egg size, buccal capsule depth, length of the esophagus, and the tail length /body length ratio. Entomelas campbelli differs from E. floresvillelai in the shape of the anterior end (rounded vs. truncated) and tail (tail conical, tapering to sharply pointed terminal end in E. campbelli vs. blunt tip in E. floresvillelai ), in the body width, buccal capsule width, width of the esophageal bulb, egg size and esophagus length /body length ratio ( Table 2 ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Entomelas floresvillelai n. sp. A. Buccal capsule, lateral view. B. Region of vulva, lateral view (not including the total width of body). C. Tail, ventral view. Scale bar = 0.3 mm.

FIGURE 4. SEM microphotographs of Entomelas floresvillelai n. sp. details of the external morphology. A. Truncated shape of anterior end, apical view. B. Details of the buccal capsule, onchia on the posterior wall of buccal capsule, apical view. C. Shape of the tail, blunt end, lateral view.