Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) lainsoni n. sp.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 7DA83760-8EA2-44D3-BBC4-8C98 64F948A6

Type host: Mesomys hispidus (Desmarest, 1817) ( Rodentia: Echimyidae).

Type locality: municipality of Barcelos (00°S 64°W), state of Amazonas, Brazil .

Collector and date: Francisco Lima Santos, July 17, 1995 .

Material examined: Hapantotypes, Giemsa-stained films of peripheral blood of experimentally infected laboratory mice: one epimastigote and 28 trypomastigotes, deposited in the Muséum National d 0 Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (MNHN) under registration number MNHN ZS126.

Vector: Unknown.

Strain-code: IM-4156 (Laboratory designation).

Etymology: Specific name in recognition of Professor Ralph Lainson’s contributions to the study of protozoan parasites in the Amazonian fauna of Brazil.

Description (Figures 1–20; Table 1)

Bloodstream trypomastigotes (Figures 2–20) with a mean length of 33.4 including free flagellum and width 4–6. Free flagellum 4.0–10.0 (mean 7.7); undulating membrane well developed. Posterior end of the body long and pointed (Figures 17–20) or cuneiform (Figure 4); anterior end tapering to free flagellum. Nucleus oval, longitudinal or transverse near middle of body with a nuclear index (NI) of 0.7–1.4, but mainly 0.9–1.1; kinetoplast closer to nucleus than to posterior end with kinetoplastic index (KI) of 2.2–6.0, but mainly 0.9–1.1, and marginal. Other measurements are given in Table 1. A single bloodstream epimastigote was detected, with its nucleus in a strongly posterior position and NI of 0.4 (Figure 1).