Neodiplostomum travassosi Dubois, 1937

Drago, Fabiana B., Lunaschi, Lía I. & Draghi, Regina, 2014, Digenean fauna in raptors from northeastern Argentina, with the description of a new species of Strigea (Digenea: Strigeidae), Zootaxa 3785 (2), pp. 258-270 : 265

Neodiplostomum travassosi Dubois, 1937

( Fig. 6 )

Host: Buteogallus meridionalis (Latham) , savanna hawk (Accipitidae).

Site of infection: intestine.

Voucher specimens: MLP 6714.

Distribution and hosts: The adult specimens of N. travassosi parasitize a wide spectrum of phylogenetically unrelated birds: Pulsatrix perspicillata (Latham) , Lophostrix cristata (Daudin) , Strix sp. ( Strigidae ), Ramphastos tucanus Linnaeus (Ramphastidae) from Brazil ( Dubois, 1970), Caracara plancus (Miller) (Falconidae) and Phalacrocorax brasilianus (Phalacrocoracidae) from Argentina ( Lunaschi & Drago 2005).

Measurements: Based on 5 specimens. Body distinctly bipartite, 1.08–1.26 mm (1.17 mm) long. Forebody 769–874 (815) long by 349–532 (447) wide. Hindbody 314–369 (350) long by 275–290 (285) wide. Ratio of forebody length to hindbody length 1:0.41–0.46 (0.43). Oral sucker subterminal, round, 55–60 (58) long by 48–60 (52) wide. Ventral sucker spherical, 45–62 (55) long by 50–55 (52) wide, located at 435–493 (460) from anterior end. Suckers width ratio 1:1.0–1.2 (1.1). Pharynx well developed, immediately posterior to oral sucker, 59–60 (59) long by 43–52 (47) wide, esophagus 47–48 (47.5) long. Ratio of oral sucker width to pharynx width 1:0.8–1.1 (0.9). Pseudosuckers absent. Holdfast organ 169–193 (181) long by 126–159 wide (143), situated at 119–121 (120) from ventral sucker. Ratio of holdfast organ length to body length 1:6.3–7.4 (6.9). Ratio of organ holdfast length to forebody length 1:4.2–5.2 (4.7). Testes tandem; anterior testis asymmetrical, cuneiform, 95–119 (107) long by 260–268 (264) wide; posterior testis symmetrical, 86–119 (98) long by 238–243 (241) wide. Ovary elliptical, median, immediately posterior to junction of fore– and hindbody, 69–71 (70) long by 117–130 (124) wide. Previtelline region in forebody 304–377 (340). Vitellarium in fore– and hindbody, extending from nearly midway between intestinal bifurcation and ventral sucker to posterior extremity of hindbody. Eggs 91–100 (96) long by 48– 67 (56) wide.

Remarks: The specimens obtained from B. meridionalis possess morphological and morphometric characters similar to those described by Dubois (1970) and Lunaschi & Drago (2005).

The life cycle of N. travassosi is unknown; however, considering the life cycle pattern of Neodiplostomum spp., the savanna hawk can be infected by ingesting amphibians, reptilians or mammals infected with neodiplostomulum– type metacercariae. Szidat (1969) briefly described Neodiplostomulum gymnoti Szidat 1969 in Gymnotus carapo L. (Pisces, Gymnotidae ) from northeastern Argentina. However, Niewiadomska (2002) considers that these metacercariae belong to the genus Diplostomum von Nordmann, due to the morphology of the excretory system and the use of fish as intermediate host.

The finding of N. travassosi in B. meridionalis represents a new host record.

Figures

FIGURES 4 – 11. Digeneans from raptors. 4. Strigea proteolytica n. sp. from Buteogallus urubitinga, scale bar = 250 µm. 5. Strigea falconis brasiliana Szidat, 1929 from Caracara plancus, scale bar = 250 µm. 6. Neodiplostomum travassosi Dubois, 1937 from Buteogallus meridionalis, scale bar = 200 µm. 7. Tylodelphys brevis Drago & Lunaschi, 2008 from Busarellus nigricollis, scale bar = 100 µm. 8. Posthodiplostomum macrocotyle Dubois, 1937 from B. nigricollis, scale bar 200 µm. 9. Enlarged view of copulatory bursa of P. macrocotyle, scale bar 50 µm. 10. Spaniometra variolaris (Fuhrmann, 1904) from R. sociabilis, scale bar 500 µm. 11. Megalophallus deblocki Kostadinova, Vaucher & Gibson, 2006 from R. sociabilis, scale bar 100 µm. Abbreviations: B, body wall; Gc, genital cone; P, prepuce.