Journal of Parasitology最新文献

{"title":"MENINGOENCEPHALITIS IN STRANDED SMOOTH DOGFISH (MUSTELUS CANIS) INFECTED BY PHILASTERIDES DICENTRARCHI (PHILASTERIDA: PHILASTERIDAE) IN THE NORTHWESTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN.","authors":"Steven P Ksepka, Alisa L Newton, Stephen A Bullard","doi":"10.1645/24-147","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/24-147","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>During August through September 2018, strandings and mortalities of smooth dogfish (Mustelus canis [Mitchill, 1815 [Carcharhiniformes: Triakidae]) occurred on Brighton Beach and Coney Island Beach (Brooklyn, New York). Each of the 8 smooth dogfish examined grossly exhibited hemorrhagic meninges, turbid and pink to red cerebrospinal fluid, and soft and friable olfactory lobes. Wet mounts of the cerebrospinal fluid and brain showed intense infection by scuticociliates in each smooth dogfish. Histopathologic examination of the infected brain revealed intensity-dependent necrotizing meningoencephalitis. We identified the scuticociliate as Philasterides dicentrarchiDragesco, Dragesco, Coste, Gasc, Romestand, Raymond, and Bouix, 1995 (Philasterida: Philasteridae). Small-subunit ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (SSU rDNA) sequences (604 base pairs) generated from our specimens were identical (100% nucleotide similarity) to morphologically validated GenBank sequences identified as P. dicentrarchi (JX914665). The 18S phylogenetic analysis revealed that all of the GenBank sequences identified as \"Miamiensis avidus,\" except for the type culture sequence KX357144 (which, as per the International Code for Zoological Nomenclature, objectively comprises Miamiensis avidusThompson and Moewus, 1964sensu stricto), represent P. dicentrarchi. Hence, mortalities of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata Girard, 1855 [Carcharniformes: Triakidae]) and of zebra sharks (Stegostoma tigrinum [Forster, 1781] [Orectolobiformes: Stegostomatidae]) in the Northeast Pacific Ocean represent infections by P. dicentrarchi, which have been misidentified as M. avidus previously, and that no evidence exists of M. avidus infecting an elasmobranch. We also provide a comprehensive list of scuticociliates reported to infect fishes and host species infected worldwide.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 4","pages":"479-488"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144637351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"HAPLOTYPE DIVERSITY IN ENDOSYMBIOTIC BACTERIA FOLLOWING A HOST SWITCH BY PARASITIC LICE.","authors":"Bret M Boyd, Niyomi House, Ariel C Toloza, David L Reed","doi":"10.1645/24-148","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/24-148","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The sucking lice (Anoplura: Psocodea: Insecta) parasitize mammals, exclusively consuming blood, which does not contain sufficient quantities of B vitamins to support louse development. Lice are dependent on maternally inherited endosymbiotic bacteria, which can synthesize B vitamins and make them available to the louse. Although most louse species parasitize 1 mammal species, lice occasionally colonize a different mammal species. Despite endosymbiotic bacteria being essential for louse development, little is known about the impact, if any, of a louse colonizing a new mammal species on the louse's endosymbiotic bacteria. To address this knowledge gap, we sought to examine genomic diversity in maternally inherited and host-beneficial endosymbiotic bacteria in sucking lice following the likely colonization of a new host. Here, we examined the genomes of endosymbiotic bacteria, Candidatus Riesia pediculicola, from the human head louse, Pediculus humanus. Pediculus humanus (and their endosymbiotic bacteria) are found on humans and South American primate species. The association of P. humanus with humans predates the appearance of modern humans; however, P. humanus appears to have colonized South American primates more recently (likely following the arrival of humans in South America). We examined the genome of Candidatus Riesia from P. humanus isolated from humans (Homo sapiens) and South American black howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya). Here, we find that endosymbiont diversity in lice collected from black howler monkeys included one-half of all known haplogroups described from lice collected from humans. Furthermore, the endosymbiont haplotypes identified from lice on the black howler monkeys reflect the haplotype diversity of endosymbionts present in lice parasitizing humans in the same geographic region. It is not known if the genetic diversity in the endosymbionts of P. humanus parasitizing the black howler monkey is the result of the ongoing movement of lice from humans to black howler monkeys or from a single host switch involving a genetically diverse population of endosymbionts.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 4","pages":"412-418"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144528406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"NEOLEBOURIA MULLINEAUXAE N. SP. (TREMATODA: DIGENEA) AND ANOTHER OPECOELID FROM DEEP-SEA HYDROTHERMAL VENT FIELDS OFF CENTRAL AMERICA AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA, WITH SPECIES KEYS AND A COMPARISON TO MESOBATHYLEBOURIA.","authors":"Lauren N Dykman, Deidric B Davis, Charles K Blend","doi":"10.1645/24-113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/24-113","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neolebouria mullineauxae n. sp. (Digenea: Opecoelidae), exhibiting remarkable morphological variation (i.e., 2 distinctive morphotypes), is described from the intestine of the zoarcid eelpout or pink vent fish, Thermarces cerberus, collected from deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields along the East Pacific Rise (EPR) off the west coast of Central America. It can be distinguished from its congeners by having a unique diagnostic combination of features including a small body and gonads that are smaller relative to body size, a prebifurcal genital pore, a cirrus pouch that extends posteriorly as far as the posterior margin of the ventral sucker while the anterior margin of the latter is either close to or overlaps the intestinal bifurcation, confluent vitelline fields within the posttesticular space, and vitelline follicles and eggs that are not as dense and few to moderate in number, respectively. This report introduces a new family (Zoarcidae) and genus (Thermarces) of fish infected by the genus Neolebouria, a new host record in that this is the first taxonomic description of a digenetic trematode from T. cerberus; a new geographic locality for Neolebouria (sensu stricto)-the East Pacific Ocean off the coast of Central America-and a life cycle of the new species within the hydrothermal vent biome is postulated, including the sporocyst stage which utilizes the glass limpet, Eulepetopsis vitrea, as a first intermediate host. Two immature digeneans (cf. Opecoelidae) are described herein, collected from vent fields off Papua New Guinea, and represent a new host record in that this is the first report of a digenetic trematode from the zoarcid eelpout, Pyrolycus manusanus. Based on molecular analysis of the 28S gene, N. mullineauxae n. sp. was 99.92% (1,218/1,219 base pairs [bp]) similar to Neolebouria georgiensis. It was genetically closer to a previously described vent digenean, Buticulotrema thermichthysi, than to Mesobathylebouria lanceolata, despite the new species sharing morphological characteristics with the genus Mesobathylebouria. The 2 distinctive morphotypes of N. mullineauxae n. sp. were genetically identical in the 28S and ITS2 barcoding regions, supporting their identity as a single species. Given the similarity of N. mullineauxae n. sp. to members of Mesobathylebouria morphologically and ecologically, a thorough comparison of both genera is presented, as well as new keys to species, and a plea offered for a more efficacious diagnostic suite of morphological characters to distinguish both genera.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 4","pages":"451-478"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144637352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"PARAPLEUROGENOIDES (DIGENEA), A NEW GENUS IN PELOPHYLAX BEDRIAGAE (ANURA: RANIDAE) FROM KURDISTAN, IRAN WITH COMMENTS ON THE RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN PLEUROGENIDAE.","authors":"Loghman Maleki, Mastoreh Shahmoradi, Kiavash Golzarianpour","doi":"10.1645/24-102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/24-102","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The systematics of the family Pleurogenidae Looss, 1899, has been significantly revised in recent years, with the addition of 7 new genera based on molecular data. Despite these advancements, this family still lacks a definitive morphological synapomorphy. It encompasses genera with considerable morphological diversity, parasitizing a wide range of host groups across the globe. In the present study, we describe Parapleurogenoides n. gen., a new genus within the Pleurogenidae, discovered in the Levant water frog, Pelophylax bedriagae (Camerano, 1882), from the Sanandaj region of western Iran. This new genus is distinguished by its pyriform body shape, vitelline glands with a limited number of follicles, and a Y-shaped excretory vesicle. To investigate its phylogenetic relationships, a dataset of partial 28S rRNA sequences was generated, including all Pleurogenidae species available in GenBank. The phylogenetic analysis reveals that Parapleurogenoides kurdistanensis n. sp. and cercariae from Vietnam form a distinct clade, which is sister to Pleurogenes claviger (Rudolphi, 1819) and Pleurogenoides medians (Olsson, 1876). These clades are classified within Pleurogenidae, a family known for parasitizing amphibians. Moreover, the relationships within Pleurogenidae and the taxonomy of the genus Pleurogenoides Travassos, 1921, are re-evaluated based on morphological traits and the potential inclusion of other species previously assigned to this genus.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 4","pages":"431-440"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144637353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"DESCRIPTION, REDESCRIPTION, AND LIFE CYCLES OF CLOACITREMA KURISI N. SP. AND CLOACITREMA MICHIGANENSIS (TREMATODA: DIGENEA: PHILOPHTHALMIDAE) FROM THE CALIFORNIA HORN SNAIL, CERITHIDEOPSIS CALIFORNICA (GASTROPODA: POTAMIDIDAE).","authors":"Alexandria P Nelson, Daniel C G Metz, Ryan F Hechinger","doi":"10.1645/24-41","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/24-41","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We describe the parthenita colonies, soldier rediae, reproductive rediae, cercariae, metacercariae, and sexual adults of Cloacitrema michiganensisMcIntosh, 1938 and Cloacitrema kurisi n. sp. using material from natural and experimental infections and molecular-genetic analyses. Cloacitrema kurisi, a \"pseudo-cryptic\" species, was previously pooled with C. michiganensis in research involving the guild of trematodes infecting the California horn snail, Cerithideopsis californica (Haldeman, 1840), as a first intermediate host. Our morphological data suggest that C. kurisi contaminated an earlier description of the C. michiganensis life cycle based on that same snail host. Our descriptions of all life stages use material originating from naturally infected, lab-maintained horn snails from San Diego, California. By repeatedly shedding cercariae from specific, labeled snails, we obtained material for experimental infections, developmental studies, and genetics. In all cases, these data were matched to individual first-intermediate host colonies. These same colonies were finally dissected to describe the morphology, behavior, and demographics of reproductive and soldier rediae. Metacercaria descriptions came from cercariae shed and encysted in the laboratory; we also document a metacercaria developmental time series for each species. We experimentally exposed final host chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) and ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) to metacercariae per cloaca; we successfully obtained and described sexual adults only from the chickens. Both cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) and 28S phylogenetic analyses corroborated that these are 2 Cloacitrema species. As indicated in its original description, C. michiganensis adults can be readily distinguished from other Cloacitrema species by the combination of their inter-cecal uterus; small, oval pharynx; large, equatorial ventral sucker; and the presence of inter-testicular space. The C. kurisi adult stage can be distinguished from other Cloacitrema species by the combination of its extra-cecal, post-testicular uterus; particularly large, round pharynx; the complete absence of an esophagus; and the presence of inter-testicular space. We use our morphometric data to provide an emended diagnosis for the genus Cloacitrema. There are now 10 formally named species of Cloacitrema, 4 of which have had their first intermediate host stages described.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 4","pages":"393-411"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144528405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"FIRST RECORD OF A POLYSTOME (MONOGENOIDEA: POLYSTOMATIDAE) INFECTING A CROCODILIAN: LATERGATOR LOUISDUPREEZI N. GEN., N. SP. FROM THE EYE OF AN AMERICAN ALLIGATOR, ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS DAUDIN, 1802 (CROCODILIA: ALLIGATORIDAE) IN A NORTH-CENTRAL GULF OF AMERICA SALT MARSH (ROCKEFELLER WILDLIFE REFUGE).","authors":"Haley R Dutton, Stephen A Bullard","doi":"10.1645/25-11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/25-11","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>From July 2021 through June 2024, we necropsied 35 American alligators from Louisiana, Alabama, and South Carolina (including the Gulf of America and Atlantic Ocean river basins). A new polystomatid, Latergater dupreezi n. gen., n. sp. is described based on specimens collected from the eye of 1 wild-caught American alligator measuring 1,450 mm in total length and captured from a salt marsh habitat within the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge (Grand Chenier, Louisiana) on 19 July 2021. The new species resembles species of Polystomoidinae Yamaguti, 1963 and Oculotrematinae Yamaguti, 1963. It is readily differentiated from species of Polystomoidinae by the combination of having circular haptoral suckers with skeletal elements but that lack marked separation between suckers; ceca having anterior, medial, and lateral diverticula; a compact testis that occupies a small proportion of the intercecal space (vs. a broad testis that spans the intercecal space); a sinistral and intercecal ovary (vs. an ovary that is ventral to the sinistral cecum) having a proximal oviduct extending mediad and then posteriad (vs. proximal oviduct extending anteriad); a small uterus (occupying a minute portion of the intercecal space), medial, and located close to the cecal bifurcation; and vaginal pores that open laterally at the level of or slightly posterior to the level of the testis. It differs from species of Oculotrematinae by having vaginae and lacking hamuli. No other nominal polystome has this combination of features; therefore, the erection of a new genus for the new species is warranted. We lack a nucleotide sequence for the new species because we used the only specimen we collected as a heat-killed, formalin-fixed, stained wholemount (holotype) for a taxonomic study that prioritized morphology. Without a nucleotide sequence (and phylogenetic analysis), we herein refrain from emending an existing subfamily or proposing a new subfamily to accommodate the new genus. This is the first record of a polystome infecting a crocodilian and the first definitive record of an ectoparasitic polystome infecting a host captured in saltwater.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 4","pages":"489-495"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144637349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A QUARTER CENTURY OF SAMPLING TWO OCEAN BASINS TO DISAMBIGUATE THE IDENTITY OF A MULLET PARASITE, SACCOCOELIOIDES BEAUFORTI (DIGENEA: HAPLOPORIDAE).","authors":"Stephen S Curran, Stephen A Bullard","doi":"10.1645/25-22","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/25-22","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Saccocoelioides beauforti (Hunter and Thomas, 1961) Overstreet, 1971, an intestinal parasite of flathead grey mullet, Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, was originally described from off North Carolina (northwestern Atlantic Ocean) and purportedly ranges south and west to Louisiana (north-central Gulf of America). We surveyed the parasites of hundreds of flathead grey mullet captured from coastal habitats of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi over a 25 yr period, from 1998 through 2023. Examination of whole-mounted specimens of \"S. beaufort\" revealed substantial morphological variation between specimens from off North Carolina to Georgia (Northwestern Atlantic Ocean) with those from off Mississippi and Alabama (north-central Gulf of America), with some overlap in Georgia. We therefore investigated the identities of these 2 groups of parasites that were, until now, accepted as conspecific. Observations of the museum specimens and newly collected specimens, augmented by ITS2 and 28S rRNA gene fragment comparisons, indicated that S. beauforti sensu stricto infects flathead grey mullet along the eastern coast of the United States between North Carolina and Georgia. Furthermore, specimens previously identified as S. beauforti from Georgia (in part), south Florida, and the north-central Gulf of America are conspecific with Saccocoelioides macrospinosusAndrade-Gómez, Sereno-Uribe, and García-Varela, 2019, which was previously thought to infect only the Catemaco molly, Poecilia catemaconis Miller, and the white mullet, Mugil curema Valenciennes, in freshwater and brackish habitats in Veracruz, Mexico. Flathead grey mullet is a new host record for S. macrospinusus. Fish hosts and ranges for S. beauforti sensu stricto and S. macrospinosus overlap in coastal Georgia.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 4","pages":"441-450"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144637348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"FIRST RECORD OF PHYLLOBOTHRIID METACESTODES IN CHIMAERA MONSTROSA (HOLOCEPHALI) AND ONCORHYNCHUS GORBUSCHA (SALMONIDAE): NOVEL INSIGHT INTO LARVAL TOPOGRAPHY AND ULTRASTRUCTURE.","authors":"Larisa G Poddubnaya, Roman Kuchta, Tomáš Scholz","doi":"10.1645/24-136","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/24-136","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the scolex morphology of 3 morphotypes of metacestodes of the order Phyllobothriidea (Cestoda) from the spiral intestine of the North Sea rabbitfish Chimaera monstrosa and the intestine and gall bladder of the pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha. Transmission electron microscopy allowed a detailed examination of the ultrastructure of the tegument, unicellular gland cells, muscle cells, and calcareous corpuscles of metacestodes of different sizes from chimaeras. Based on our morphological data, we propose that the studied intestinal metacestodes from chimaeras and pink salmon belong to the type XV metacestodes of Jensen and Bullard, possibly related to members of the genus Clistobothrium Dailey and Vogelbein, 1990.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 4","pages":"419-430"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144637350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AMPHIBIAN PARASITES EXHIBIT IDIOSYNCRATIC RELATIONSHIPS WITH SPATIOTEMPORAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND HOST-COMMUNITY VARIATION.","authors":"Kyle D Gustafson, Vasyl V Tkach, Robert A Newman","doi":"10.1645/24-63","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/24-63","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Why parasites occur in certain hosts in certain locations has been a long-standing question among ecological and evolutionary parasitologists. Encounter and compatibility filters summarize the likelihood that a host and parasite will physically interact and establish an infection upon contact. Encounter and compatibility filters are not fixed and, among multiple locations, the abiotic environmental characteristics and biotic community composition that contribute to the filters often vary spatially and temporally. Abiotic variation may directly affect hosts or parasites-particularly parasites with 1 or more free-living stages-whereas the local biotic community may dilute or amplify parasite transmission. Unlike directly transmitted parasites, complex-life cycle parasites use multiple hosts, thus having life cycles that, we hypothesize, are highly susceptible to the effects of spatiotemporal environmental variation. We modeled infection probability relationships of endohelminths from post-metamorphic wood frogs (Rana [Lithobates] sylvatica) and northern leopard frogs (Rana pipiens) with wetland characteristics, landscape composition, and the anuran species within the local community. Parasites included complex-life cycle trematodes that use amphibians as definitive hosts (Haematoloechus spp., Glypthelmins quieta) or as intermediate hosts (Alaria sp., Neodiplostomum sp., echinostomatids, and Lechriorchis) and nematodes with direct or indirect life cycles (Cosmocercoides and Oswaldocruzia). Although our results demonstrate that distributions of parasites with complex and direct life cycles are correlated with some abiotic and biotic characteristics of the environment, there were few general trends. Each parasite's distribution had its own unique relationship with wetland, landscape, and amphibian-community variables, and there was overall low predictability for most species. One landscape feature-the number of wetlands within the vicinity of the site of amphibian capture-was commonly included in top models for leopard frogs and could be associated with how definitive hosts (e.g., amphibians, mammals, and birds) and intermediate hosts (e.g., snails and odonates) use the landscape. The amphibian community at any given site also commonly affected infection probabilities, such that the local presence of other species tended to reduce infection probabilities in sampled frogs, lending support to the dilution effect at the landscape level. Our research highlights the need to consider spatiotemporal sampling, environmental variation, and host-community variation when studying parasite prevalence in any given component community.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 3","pages":"262-275"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144127965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"NEW SPECIES OF AXINE ABILDGAARD, 1794 (MONOGENOIDEA: AXINIDAE) INFECTING GILL LAMELLAE OF ATLANTIC FLYINGFISH, CHEILOPOGON MELANURUS (VALENCIENNES) (EXOCOETIDAE) IN THE WESTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN WITH PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS AND COMMENTS ON THE FEMALE GENITALIA OF AXINE SPP.","authors":"John H Brule, Micah B Warren, William B Driggers, Stephen A Bullard","doi":"10.1645/24-145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1645/24-145","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We collected specimens of Axine trickyvagina Brule and Bullard n. sp. (Monogenoidea: Axinidae) from the gill lamellae of Atlantic flyingfish, Cheilopogon melanurus (Valenciennes) (Exocoetidae) in the north-central Gulf of America. Specimens of the new species were heat-killed and formalin-fixed for morphology, and others were preserved in 95% EtOH for DNA extraction and sequencing of the 28S gene and ITS1 region. The new species differs from all congeners by the combination of having a long haptor (∼40-50% of the total body length), a male copulatory organ with 10-15 spines, and a genital atrium having bilateral spinous patches each with 18-25 spines. Our study of specimens of the new species, type and voucher specimens representing 8 congeners, and all published accounts of all congeners revealed that the terminal female genitalia of Axine spp. comprises 2 ducts (a multi-chambered vagina that lacks a sclerite plus an accessory duct with a sclerotized nozzle comprising its opening) that open into a common female genital atrium. Descriptions of Axine spp. published from 1794 through 2023 failed to recognize the vaginal duct and accessory duct as distinct components and unanimously misinterpreted the accessory duct's sclerotized nozzle as a \"vaginal spine.\" The phylogenetic analysis inferred from 28S rDNA sequences placed our sequence in a clade of other Mazocraeidea spp. and sister to a nonugen sequence ascribed to Axine japonicaPrice, 1946 (GenBank LC799038). We recovered Axinidae as sister to Heteromicrocotylidae, Heteraxinidae, and Microcotylidae. The present study is the first published description of an axinid from a flyingfish in the western Atlantic Ocean.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"111 3","pages":"276-286"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144150741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}