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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 90, Num. 5, 1995, pp. 615-618
Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 90 (5), sep./oct. 1995

Tetrameres (Tetrameres) spirospiculum n. sp. (Nematoda, Tetrameridae) from the Buff-necked Ibis, Theristicus caudatus caudatus (Boddaert) (Aves, Threskiornithidae)

Roberto Magalhaes Pinto+, J Julio Vicente

Laboratorio de Helmintos Parasitos de Vertebrados, Departamento de Helmintologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil 4365, 21045-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

Tetrameres (T.) spirospiculum n. sp. is proposed, taking into account the very unusual aspect of the longer spicule, which is slender and progressively spiralled from its middle, towards the distal end, that promptly distinguishes it from all the species of the genus.

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Key words: nematodes - Tetrameres (Tetrameres) spirospiculum n. sp. - Ciconiiformes - birds - Brazil

This paper refers to the proposal of a new species of nematode parasite of a Brazilian ciconiid bird. The present findings add new data to partial results previously reported during a study regarding nematode parasites of Ciconiiformes avian hosts (Vicente et al. 1995).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Six samples of nematodes recovered from Theristicus caudatus caudatus (Boddaert) between 1922 and 1940 during institutional scientific expeditions to the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, were studied.

The samples were deposited in the Helminthological Collection of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (CHIOC), preserved in vials with Railliet & HenryÆs solution (0.85% NaCl solution: 93 ml; formaldehyde: 5 ml; glacial acetic acid: 2 ml) and were processed for study as described elsewhere (Pinto et al. 1993).

The preparation of en face mounts was made according to the method of Anderson (1958). Photomicrography was obtained in a Zeiss mod. Axiophoto microphotographic system. Illustrations were made with a drawing tube connected to an Olympus light microscope. Measurements are in micrometers, unless otherwise indicated.

Classification of the nematodes regarding generic and subgeneric diagnoses follow Chabaud (1975) and confirmation of the taxonomic status of the host was based on Sick (1984).

DESCRIPTION

Tetrameres (Tetrameres) spirospiculum n.sp.

(Figs 1a-h, 2)

Morphometrics: based on nine specimens, seven males and two females; Habronematoidea, Tetrameridae, Tetramerinae.

Males (Figs. 1a, d, f, h): body 2.52-4.06 mm long, 110-150 wide, with thinly dispersed, feeble developed spines, easily overlooked. Mouth oval-elongate, lips absent, with three pairs of small teeth surrounding mouth; four small papillae in inner circle, two amphids and four large, globose papillae in outer circle. Buccal capsule with thick sclerotized lining, 10-14 long. Muscular and glandular esophagus 230-320 and 730-860 long, respectively. Nerve ring and excretory pore 140-210 and 190-250 from anterior extremity, respectively. Spicules very unequal in size and dissimilar in shape. The longer spicule is slender and presents from its middle, towards the distal end, a progressive twisting that increases gradually in a corkscrew spiral (Figs 1f, 2) and is 0.82-1.08 mm long. The shorter spicule is stout, alate, 150-160 long. Gubernaculum absent. Caudal papillae not observed. Cloacal aperture 10-14 from posterior extremity.

Females (Figs 1b, c, e, g): body (uncom-pressed) globose in midregion, tapering to a very small diameter at anterior extremity and bluntly rounded posteriorly, 3.23-5.00 mm long, 2.14-3.50 mm wide. Mouth round-oval, lips absent. Buccal capsule with tick sclerotized lining, 14 in diameter. Muscular and glandular esophagus 210-220 and 0.98-1.20 mm long, respectively. Nerve ring 120-140 from anterior extremity. Excretory pore not observed. Uterus coiled, filling most of the body. Vulva 210-230 from anus, 350 from posterior extremity. Eggs oval-elongate, embryonated, without polar filaments, 39-43 long, 25 wide. Tail, not always visible, may be confined within body folds, is 97-110 long. Anus 140 from posterior extremity.

Taxonomic summary

Type host: Theristicus caudatus caudatus (Boddaert); common name: buf-necked ibis ('curicaca')

Site of infection: gizzard (females in proventricular glands, males free in the lumen)

Type locality: Salobra, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Etymology: the specific name derives from the Latin spira + spiculum, meaning 'spiralled spicule'

Specimens studied: CHIOC no. 33, 173 a (holotype), 33, 186 c (alotype), 33, 173 b-c (paratypes), 33, 185 a-b, 33, 186 a, b, d-f, 33, 267 a-e (whole mounts), 8, 466, 11, 501, 11, 710, 11, 959 (wet material) (vouchers).

REMARKS

Actually, the genus Tetrameres Creplin, 1846, is represented by species grouped in two subgenera, namely Tetrameres and Microtetrameres, according to Chabaud (1975) on basis of the body shape in females, globular or twisted in tight spiral and the presence or absence of cuticular spines in the males, respectively.

    Fig. 2. Tetrameres (T.) spirospiculum n. sp.: posterior portion of male, lateral view. Bar: 0.05 mm.

The species of the genus recovered from Ciconiiformes hosts are: Tetrameres (Tetrameres) ardeae Shigin 1953, T. (T.) ardamericanus Boyd 1966, T. (T. ) aspinosa Pence 1973, T. (Microtetrameres) canadensis Mawson 1956, T. (T.) coccineus (Seurat 1914) Travassos 1917, T. (T.) cochleariae Travassos 1917, T. (T.) cubanus Vigueras 1941, T. (T.) deccani Ali 1970, T. (T.) fermini Vigueras 1935, T. (T.) fissispinus (Diesing 1861), T. (T.) gynaecophilus (Molin 1858) Travassos 1914, T. (T.) micropenis Travassos 1915, T. (T.) microspinosus Vigueras 1935, T. (T.) schigini Oschmarin 1956, T. (M.) spiralis Seurat 1915 and T. (T.) williamsi Bush et al. 1973 (Skrjabin & Sobolev 1963, Boyd 1966, Ali 1970, Bush et al. 1973, Pence 1973).

The referred papers provide complete morphometric data on these species.

For the peculiar and unusual shape of the longer spicule, Tetrameres (T.) spirospiculum n. sp. is very remarkable and differs from all the species of the genus, including those reported in other birds than the Ciconiiformes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To Dr Monica Barth, Department of Virology, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, for facilities concerning the photomicrography; to Mara Lucia de Souza Lemos, IOC research fellow from the 'Setor de Programacao Visual' (SICT/FIOCRUZ), for technical assistance regarding the figures presented.

REFERENCES

Ali MM 1970. Observations on the family Tropisuridae Yamaguti, 1961 (Nematoda, Spiruridea), with a revised classification of the genus Tropisurus (Diesing, 1835) and a description of four new species. Acta Parasitol Polon 18: 85-98.

Anderson RC 1958. Methode pour lÆexamen des nematodes en vue apicale. Ann Par hum comp 33: 171-172.

Boyd EM 1966. Observations on nematodes of herons in North America including three new species and new host and State records. J Parasitol 52: 503-511.

Bush AO, Pence DB, Forrester DJ 1973. Tetrameres (Gynaecophila) williamsi (Nematoda, Tetrameridae) from the white ibis, Eudocimus albus, with notes on Tetrameres (Tetrameres) grusi Shumakovich from the sandhill crane, Grus canadensis. J Parasitol 59: 788-792.

Chabaud AG 1975. Keys to the genera of the order Spirurida. Spiruroidea, Habronematoidea and Acuarioidea, p. 29-58. In RC Anderson, AG Chabaud, S Willmott (eds). CIH Keys to the nematode parasites of vertebrates. 3, Part 2. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, England.

Pence DB 1973. Tetrameres aspinosa n. sp. from the snowy egret and a new host record for T. robusta (Nematoda: Tetrameridae). Trans Amer Micros Soc 92: 522-525.

Pinto RM, Vicente JJ, Noronha D 1993. Nematode parasites of Brazilian psittacid birds, with emphasis on the genus Pelecitus Railliet & Henry, 1910. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 88: 279-284.

Sick H 1984. Ornitologia brasileira, uma introducao. 1. Universidade de Brasilia, 474 pp.

Skrjabin KI, Sobolev AA 1963. Principles of nematodology XI. Spirurata of animals and man and the diseases caused by them Part I (Spiruroidea) Moscow: Izdatelstv Akademii Nauk SSSR, 511 pp. (in Russian).

Vicente JJ, Pinto RM, Noronha D, Goncalves L 1995. Nematode parasites of Brazilian Ciconiiformes birds: a general survey with new records for the species. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 90: 389-393.

+ CNPq research fellow, Proc. no. 300.374/80-1

Received 23 January 1995

Accepted 20 March 1995

Copyright 1995 Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz


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