Rhabdochona paski Baylis, 1928

Moravec, František & Jirků, Miloslav, 2017, Some nematodes from freshwater fishes in central Africa, Folia Parasitologica (033) 64, pp. 1-39 : 36

Rhabdochona paski Baylis, 1928

Syns.: Rhabdochona congolensis Campana-Rouget, 1961 ; R. aegyptiaca El-Naffaret Saoud, 1974 ; R. versterae Boomker et Petter, 1993

Host: Banded jewel cichlid Hemichromis elongatus (Guichenot) ( Perciformes : Cichlidae ).

Site of infection: Intestine.

Locality: Unspecified locality in Bas Congo (Congo basin, collected 29 June 2008).

Prevalence and intensity: 1 fish infected/1 fish examined; 1 nematode.

Deposition of voucher specimen: IPCAS N-997 .

Remarks. The general morphology of the only available male specimen (body length 13.2 mm, length of spicules 219 µm and 66 µm), particularly the structure of the prostom, simple deirids, characteristic ventral cuticular ornamentations and the conical tail without spike-like caudal projections, is typical of R. paski , as redescribed by Moravec et al. (2013). Although this widespread African nematode is mainly a parasite of characiform fishes, it is frequently recorded from fishes belonging to other fish orders, which may apparently play a role of paratenic, paradefinitive or postcyclic hosts ( Moravec et al. 2013, Moravec and Van As 2015b). The present finding of R. paski in H. elongatus represents a new host record.