title: Polystomatidae (Monogenea) of African Anura: Polystoma dawiekoki n. sp. parasitic in Ptychadena anchietae (Bocage).
abstract: Polystoma dawiekoki n. sp. is described as a new species of the Polystomatidae parasitic in the urinary bladder of the plain grass frog Ptychadena anchietae. This parasite was collected at Mkuze town and Mkuze Game Reserve in northern Kwazulu-Natal Province, in the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, and at Bulwa in Tanga Province, East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. It is distinguished from other African Polystoma species by a combination of characters, including the body size, size and shape of marginal hooklets and the haptor length to body length ratio. The presence of adult, as well as subadult, parasites in the same individuals, as is known for Eupolystoma, represents a significant evolutionary departure from the pattern of transmission typical of Polystoma in most of the other anuran hosts.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Sciences and Development, Potchefstroom University for CHE, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa.
authors.forename: Louis H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: du Preez
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vaucher
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mariaux
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000469:parasitology*; D013019:South Africa; D013636:Tanzania; D014200:Trematoda / Q000145:classification*