Rhabdias rhampholeonis n. sp. and Rhabdias mariauxi n. sp. (Nematoda, Rhabdiasoidea), first lung worms from leaf chameleons: description, molecular evidence and notes on biology.
Rhabdias rhampholeonis n. sp. from Rhampholeon (Rh.) spectrum, Cameroon, and Rhabdias mariauxi n. sp. from Rieppeleon brevicaudatus, Tanzania, are the first lung worms from leaf chameleons. The new species are similar to the majority of species parasitic in chamaeleonids by having a long (>or=10 mm) and thick body (>or=500 microm), long oesophagus (>or=800 microm), wide buccal capsule (>or=40 microm) and low buccal ratio (<0.5). They most closely resemble Rhabdias chamaeleonis and Rhabdias cristati parasitic in Trioceros spp. from East Africa and Cameroon, respectively. Main distinctive characters are a buccal capsule composed of two segments and the head shape. The dorso-ventrally flattened buccal capsule of R. mariauxi n. sp. is unique in Rhabdias parasitising Chamaeleonidae. Sequences of the 12S rDNA and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (coxI) genes were obtained and compared to those of Rhabdias okuensis, the only sequences published for chamaeleonid lung worms. The smallest nucleotide interspecific distances were found between R. mariauxi n. sp. and the former species of Trioceros from Cameroon. Hermaphroditism in females in the lungs, and R. mariauxi n. sp. free-living stages are like in other species from Chamaeleonidae, but the number of infective larvae produced per free-living female (one or two) was not fixed.
Lhermitte-Vallarino
Nathaly
N
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, USM 307, Département Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité & CNRS IFR 101, Parasitologie comparée et Modèles expérimentaux, Paris, France.
Barbuto
Michela
M
Junker
Kerstin
K
Boistel
Renaud
R
Ineich
Ivan
I
Wanji
Samuel
S
Bain
Odile
O
D000818:Animals; D051545:Cyclooxygenase 1 / Q000235:genetics; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D008116:Lizards / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018515:Plant Leaves; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012205:Rhabdiasoidea / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D017196:Rhabditida Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
D018509:DNA, Helminth; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; C075526:RNA, ribosomal, 12S; D051545:Cyclooxygenase 1