Cosmocerca podicipinus Baker & Vaucher, 1984

González, Cynthya Elizabeth & Hamann, Monika Inés, 2007, Nematode parasites of two species of Chaunus (Anura: Bufonidae) from Corrientes, Argentina, Zootaxa 1393, pp. 27-34 : 28-31

Cosmocerca podicipinus Baker & Vaucher, 1984 ( Fig. 1 )

This species is readily distinguished from other species by the fusion of the underlying sclerotized plectane supports between the plectanes ( Baker & Vaucher 1984). The metric characters of males and females are presented and compared with material reported from other hosts in Table 2.

Remarks

The genus Cosmocerca is widely distributed in amphibians and reptiles in South American ( Baker 1987), with nine species of Cosmocerca occurring in the region; C. brasiliensis Travassos, 1925 ; C. chilensis Lent and Freitas, 1948 ; C. cruzi Rodrigues and Fabio, 1970 ; C. paraguayensis Moravec and Kaiser, 1994 ; C. parva Travassos, 1925 ; C. podicipinus Baker and Vaucher, 1984 ; C. rara Freitas and Vicente, 1966 ; C. travassosi Rodrigues and Fabio, 1970 ; and C. uruguayensis Lent and Freitas, 1948 ( Bursey & Goldberg 2004; 2005).

Baker and González and Present study Present study Vaucher Hamann (2004) † C. fernandezae C. bergi (1984) *

Total length M 1.88–3.17mm 1.72–3.22mm 3.15–3.82mm 2.03–3.87mm

F 2.86–7.33mm 3.3–6.0mm 2.35–4.29mm 2.4–6.97mm Width M – 120–225 184–241 160–300

F – 150–240 210–285 222–340 Pharynx M – 21–39 x 16–21 23 –32 x 21–23 20 – 27 x 18–25

F – 23–48 x 21–28 30 –50 x 32 –50 32–46 x 32 –53 Muscular esophagus M – 189–230 x 18–30 195–241 x 23–32 170–275 x 19–30

F – 219–271 x 25–35 282–400 x 34 –49 258–324 x 34 –48 Bulb M – 37–60 x 46 –57 55–69 x 48 –67 50–80 x 45 –78

F – 48–81 x 58 –78 71–110 x 90 –138 69–103 x 89 –108 Nerve ring from anterior end M 168–250 172–184 No obs. 110–230

F 176–247 240–260 162–300 180–240 Excretory pore from anterior end M 258–376 235–330 184–324 130–425 * from: Leptodactylus podicipinus , L. fuscus , L. elenae , L. chaquensis . † from: Pseudopaludicola falcipes .

Cosmocerca podicipinus was originally described from Leptodactylus podicipinus of Capitan Bado, Amambay province, Paraguay. It has also been reported in Leptodactylus fuscus , L. elenae and L. chaquensis (Leptodactylidae) from Paraguay ( Baker & Vaucher 1984); Atelopus spurrelli (Bufonidae) and Dendrobates histrionicus (Dendrobatidae) from Colombia ( Goldberg & Bursey 2003); Bufo typhonius (Bufonidae) , Colostethus marchesianus , Epipedobates femoralis (Dendrobatidae) , Eleutherodactylus imitatrix and Leptodactylus leptodactyloides (Leptodactylidae) from Peru (Bursey et al. 2001), and Pseudopaludicola falcipes , Leptodactylus bufonius , L. chaquensis (Leptodactylidae) and Chaunus granulosus major (Bufonidae) from Corrientes, Argentina ( González & Hamann 2004; 2006a; 2006b; Hamann et al. 2006).

The general morphology of the present specimens corresponds to the original description, although the body size of male specimens are greater than those from other hosts in the same region ( Table 2); female worms, however, are shorter in length than those of Baker and Vaucher (1984). Egg length falls within the range described by Baker and Vaucher (1984) and González and Hamann (2004), while the length of spicules in C. fernandezae and C. bergi is less than that studied by Baker and Vaucher (1984) and by González and Hamann (2004). We considered these differences intraspecific variations.

Cosmocerca parva Travassos, 1925 ( Figs. 2–3 )

This species is distinguished from the Cosmocerca podicipinus by the morphology of the plectanes; in C. podicipinus the plectanes on each side of body are fused by underlying sclerotized supports, whereas in C. parva union between the plectanas of each row does not exist.

Morphometric characteristics of male and female C. parva are presented in Table 3 and compared with data from other hosts.

* from Hyla fuscovaria , Bufo paracnemis , Leptodactylus chaquensis , L. elenae . † from Bufo granulosus major

£ from Elosia nasus

‡ from Chaunus granulosus major

Remarks

In South America, Cosmocerca parva was found in Leptodactylus mystaceus , L. caliginosus , L. fuscus , L. ocellatus , Adenomera marmorata , Physalaemus signiferus , P. soaresi and Elosia nasus (Leptodactylidae) and Olylogon fuscovaria (Hylidae) from Brazil ( Travassos, 1925; 1931; Silva 1954; Fabio 1982); in Leptodactylus sp., L. chaquensis , L. elenae (Leptodactylidae) and Olylogon fuscovaria (Hylidae) from Paraguay ( Masi Pallares & Maciel 1974; Baker & Vaucher 1984), in Bufo glaberrimus , B. marinus and B. typhonius (Bufonidae) , in Epipedobates pictus (Dendrobatidae) , in Hyla fasciata , Phyllomedusa atelopoides , Scarthyla ostinodactyla , Scinax garbei and S. ictericus (Hylidae) , in Edalorhina perezi , Eleutherodactylus fenestratus , E. peruvianus , E. toftae , Leptodactylus leptodactyloides and L. mystaceus (Leptodactylidae) and in Elachistocleis ovalis and Hamptophryne boliviana (Microhylidae) from Peru (Bursey et al. 2001). In Argentina it was found in Chaunus granulosus major (Bufonidae) and in Leptodactylus bufonius and L. chaquensis (Leptodactylidae) ( Mordeglia & Digiani 1998; González & Hamann 2006a; 2006b; Hamann et al. 2006).

Our measurements of this nematode agree with data collected in other hosts in the same region. Although male C. parva may possess 5–7 pairs of plectanes ( Baker & Vaucher 1984), in all the males we examined only 5 pairs of plectanas were present ( Table 3 ). The number of pairs of adanal papillae varies from 2–4 pairs in C. fernandezae but 3 pairs were consistently present in C. bergi we examined. Additionally in C. bergi we did not observe an unpaired papilla on the anterior lip of the anus, as reported by Mordeglia and Digiani (1998). We consider the differences reported here as intraspecific variation.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 7. Nematodes parasites of Chaunus fernandezae and Chaunus bergi from Argentina. 1. Cosmocerca podicipinus, male, spicules, gubernaculum, adanals papillaes and unpaired papillae on anterior lip of anus, ventral view. 2. C. parva, bulb, details of valves. 3. C. parva, male, spicules, gubernaculum, adanals papillaes and unpaired papillae on anterior lip of anus, ventral view. 4. Ortleppascaris sp. (larvae), anterior end of body, dorsal view. 5. Ortleppascaris sp. (larvae), tail, lateral view. 6. Physaloptera sp. (larvae), anterior end of body, ventral view. 7. Physaloptera sp. (larvae), tail, lateral view. (Scale bar figures: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7: 50 µm; figure 4: 200 µm).

Tables

TABLE 3. Morphometric characteristics of males (M) and females (F) of Cosmocerca parva in various hosts.

		Baker and Va uch er (1984)*	Mordeglia and Digiani (1998)†	Travassos (1931)£	González and Hamann (2006b)‡	Present study C. fernandezae	Present study C. bergi
Total length	M	1.68–2.46mm	1.42–2.0mm	3.5mm	1.2–2.3mm	1.32–3.0mm	1.17–1.7mm
	F	2.64–6.62mm	1.49–5.91mm	6.8mm	3.52–5.1mm	4.57–6.66mm	2.74–5.56mm
Width	M	–	212–428	180	160–230	103–280	140–240
	F	–	183–571	700	264–312	258–500	240–414
Pharynx	M	–	22–26 long	–	23–32 x 19–29	23–45 x 16–55	21–30 x 18–25