title: The first discovery of larval Gnathostoma hispidum (Nematoda: Gnathostomidae) from a snake host, Agkistrodon brevicaudus.
abstract: The present study was performed to observe the infection status of several kind of animals with indigenous Gnathostoma in Korea, and morphological characteristics of gnathostome larvae detected from pit-viper, Agkistrodon brevicaudus, for the species identification. To know the existence of Gnathostoma in Korea, 3,450 loaches, 24 bullfrogs, several kinds of snakes, i.e., 55 Elaphe rufodorsata, 2 Dinodon rufozonatum rufozonatum, 62 Rhabdophis tigrinus tigrinus and 87 Agkistrodon spp., and 438 cats were examined. A total of 21 larval gnathostomes was detected from 12 pit-vipers, A. brevicaudus. They were 2,233 x 0.343 mm in average size and covered with about 210 transverse rows of minute cuticular spines. Their characteristic head bulbs were provided with 4 rows of hooklets of which average numbers in each row were 36.8, 39.0, 41.7 and 44.3, posteriorly. In the cross sections of midgut level, the intestinal wall consisted of a single layer of 19-25 elongate epithelial cells with a single nucleus. SEM observation of the larvae revealed unique features of head bulb, cuticular spines on transverse striations and a cervical papilla. On the basis of above morphological characteristics, they were identified as the advanced third-stage larvae of Gnathostoma hispidum. It was first confirmed that the pit-viper, Agkistrodon brevicaudus is the snake intermediate host of G. hispidum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Chinju, Korea.
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D017836:Agkistrodon / Q000469:parasitology*; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D006039:Gnathostoma / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D017348:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning Transmission