TY - JOUR
T1 - Polystomatidae (Monogenea) of Southern African anura
T2 - Eupolystoma vanasi n. sp. parasitic in Schismaderma carens (Smith)
AU - Du Preez, Louis H.
AU - Tinsley, Richard C.
AU - De Sá, Rafael
PY - 2003/1/1
Y1 - 2003/1/1
N2 - Eupolystoma vanasi is described as a new species of the Polystomatidae parasitic in the urinary bladder of Schismaderma carens in Northern Province and KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. This is the third Eupolystoma species described from Africa and the first polystomatid from Schismaderma, an anuran genus that is primitive with respect to the other African bufonids in which Eupolystoma has been recorded. The species is distinguished by body size (this is the largest Eupolystoma known; mean length of adults 6 mm), by genital spine number (4 in comparison with 6-9 in other species), marginal hooklet length (greater than in other African species), and by the small size of the ovary and testis. In a sample of 27 toads, 37% were infected with up to 130 parasites per host (mean intensity 37). Worm burdens of this magnitude are exceptional amongst polystomatids in general but are characteristic of Eupolystoma, where there may be repeated re-infection of adult hosts and, uniquely, a direct, internal cycle of auto-infection.
AB - Eupolystoma vanasi is described as a new species of the Polystomatidae parasitic in the urinary bladder of Schismaderma carens in Northern Province and KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. This is the third Eupolystoma species described from Africa and the first polystomatid from Schismaderma, an anuran genus that is primitive with respect to the other African bufonids in which Eupolystoma has been recorded. The species is distinguished by body size (this is the largest Eupolystoma known; mean length of adults 6 mm), by genital spine number (4 in comparison with 6-9 in other species), marginal hooklet length (greater than in other African species), and by the small size of the ovary and testis. In a sample of 27 toads, 37% were infected with up to 130 parasites per host (mean intensity 37). Worm burdens of this magnitude are exceptional amongst polystomatids in general but are characteristic of Eupolystoma, where there may be repeated re-infection of adult hosts and, uniquely, a direct, internal cycle of auto-infection.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0037284619&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1023/A:1022169106845
DO - 10.1023/A:1022169106845
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
C2 - 12567011
AN - SCOPUS:0037284619
VL - 54
SP - 71
EP - 79
JO - Systematic Parasitology
JF - Systematic Parasitology
SN - 0165-5752
IS - 1
ER -