Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of
Date of this Version
4-2004
Abstract
We report three species of the digenean genus Parallopharynx, one previously undescribed, from the Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) in northwestern Costa Rica. Parallopharynx gonzalezi, which was originally described in Basiliscus sp. and Ctenosaura similis from central Costa Rica, inhabits C. quinquecarinata; P. jonesi, originally described in Anolis lionotus (syn. Norops oxylophus) from Nicaragua, inhabits N. oxylophus, N. biporcatus, and Basiliscus basiliscus; and the new species, which inhabits B. basiliscus. Parallopharynx matternae n. sp. differs from all other members of the genus by having a metraterm extending posteriad from the genital pore to the posterior margin of the ventral sucker, whereas in P. arctus and P. gonzalezi, the metraterm never surpasses the midlevel of the ventral sucker and in P. jonesi it never passes the anterior margin of the ventral sucker, and by having an oral sucker that does not exceed 150 μm in diameter with a subsequent greater oral-ventral sucker width ratio ranging from 1:0.88-1.12 (averaging 1:1), whereas values range from 1:0.71-0.83 for P. gonzalezi and P. arctus, and from 1:0.59-0.68 for P. jonesi. Parallopharynx spp. possesses Y-shaped excretory vesicles with a long central stem and short arms bifurcating immediately posterior to the ovary; similar to those found in members of the Telorchiidae. Additional similarities in the relative positions of the gonads and the structure of the cirrus sac and metraterm indicate a close relationship between Parallopharynx and members of the Telorchiidae.
Comments
Published in the Journal of Parasitology (April 2004) 90(2): 359-363. Copyright 2004, the American Society of Parasitologists. Used by permission.