Journal of Parasitology最新文献

{"title":"ON THE IDENTITY OF ESTHIOPTERUM TATAUPA CARRIKER, 1936 (PSOCODEA: PHTHIRAPTERA: ISCHNOCERA): A FURNARIID LOUSE SPECIES.","authors":"Kamila M D Kuabara, Michel P Valim, Jason D Weckstein","doi":"10.1645/25-75","DOIUrl":"10.1645/25-75","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Reexamination of the holotype of the louse species Esthiopterum tataupa Carriker, 1936 demonstrated that the species belongs to the genus Furnariphilus Price and Clayton, 1995 and is conspecific with Furnariphilus parkeri Price and Clayton, 1995. The Tataupa tinamou Crypturellus t. tataupa (Temminck, 1815), originally listed as the type host of this species, is not the true host. This association likely resulted from contamination during Carriker's 1934 Bolivian collections, when a furnariid (Sclerurus albigularis albicollis Carriker, 1935) was obtained at the same locality. The present study refines both the taxonomy and host association of this louse species and underscores the importance of continued critical evaluation of historical type specimens and refined morphological analysis. It also underscores the value of well-documented collections of hosts and parasites with associated field notes for assessing taxonomy and documenting ecological and evolutionary relationships of hosts and their parasites.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"112 2","pages":"158-161"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147512978","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":"CONVERGENT EVOLUTION BETWEEN ENDOSYMBIOTIC BACTERIA IN FEATHER-FEEDING LICE.","authors":"Mariam Topchyan, Mohammad Mikail Bala, Kevin P Johnson, Kimberly K O Walden, Bret M Boyd","doi":"10.1645/25-63","DOIUrl":"10.1645/25-63","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Parasitic feather-feeding lice have diets rich in amino acids but deficient in essential B vitamins. Around 22% of feather-feeding louse species are host to vertically inherited endosymbiotic bacteria belonging to the genus Sodalis. These endosymbiotic Sodalis species have undergone genome degeneration, with genes supporting amino acid synthesis being lost, while genes required for B vitamin synthesis are largely retained. However, several species of lice are host to endosymbionts belonging to proteobacteria genera other than Sodalis. It is unknown if these other endosymbionts have undergone a similar degenerative process. Here, we examine the genome of an endosymbiotic Enterobacter species, identified in a feather-feeding wing louse, asking if this endosymbiont arrived at a similar evolutionary outcome as Sodalis species. We find that this endosymbiotic Enterobacter species possesses a reduced genome and, similar to endosymbiotic Sodalis species, retains the genes required for the synthesis of B vitamins, complementing deficiencies in the louse's diet. This endosymbiont also lacks the ability to synthesize amino acids, which are abundant in the louse's diet. The data suggest that both Sodalis and Enterobacter species have independently converged on a common evolutionary solution in response to symbioses with feather-feeding lice. Thus, bacterial endosymbionts in these two different genera appear to be ecological replicates, providing lice with the same metabolic services in support of parasitism.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"112 2","pages":"150-157"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147498835","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":"HOST-SHARING DYNAMICS AT PLAY: FIRST RECORD OF SPIROXYS CONTORTUS IN KINOSTERNON SCORPIOIDES FROM BRAZILIAN AMAZON.","authors":"Leandro Mauricio Oliveira Silva, Bianca Nandyara, Marlon Leal, Jeannie Nascimento Santos, Francisco Tiago Vasconcelos Melo","doi":"10.1645/25-59","DOIUrl":"10.1645/25-59","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The genus Spiroxys Schneider, 1866 comprises species that commonly parasitize chelonians of the suborder Cryptodira found in the Holarctic and Asian regions. Spiroxys contortus (Rudolphi, 1819) was described as parasitizing a freshwater turtle of the suborder Cryptodira in the Palearctic region and is 1 of the most widely recorded species of the genus worldwide, with records even extending to Brazil. Thus, this study aims to report the first record of S. contortus in Kinosternon scorpioides (Linnaeus, 1766), a cryptodiran freshwater turtle of the family Kinosternidae, from 3 municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon. Nematodes were collected from the turtles' stomachs and identified with light microscopy. We identified several intraspecific variations and provide additional morphological and morphometric data for the species. This is the first record of S. contortus in K. scorpioides and the first record of the species in the Brazilian Amazon. Our findings expand the known host distribution of S. contortus, highlight host-sharing patterns among parasites of freshwater turtles, and contribute to understanding parasite diversity in K. scorpioides.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"112 2","pages":"140-149"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147486494","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":"CORONOEPIMERITUS BEASLEYARUM N. SP. (EUGREGARINIDA: ACTINOCEPHALOIDEA) FROM THE DIFFERENTIAL GRASSHOPPER, MELANOPLUS DIFFERENTIALIS (THOMAS), IN KANSAS.","authors":"S K Vaughan, J J Cielocha","doi":"10.1645/25-18","DOIUrl":"10.1645/25-18","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A description and differential diagnosis of Coronoepimeritus beasleyarum n. sp. are presented. Dissections of the differential grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis (Thomas), collected in Johnson County, Kansas, were found to be parasitized by a previously undescribed species of parasite. Gregarines were located at the cecal junction between the foregut and midgut and in the anterior portion of the midgut. This new species is consistent with the generic diagnosis of Coronoepimeritus (Hoshide, 1959) Clopton & Clopton, 2022 in possessing oocysts with long, polar filament-like spines and a crown-like epimerite bearing a globular tumidus with unbranched digitiform processes. This species differs from other described Coronoepimeritus species in mixed-aged trophozoite and gamont total lengths (TL), oocyst length (OL), and deutomerite maximum width (DWM). It is the third species of Coronoepimeritus described from North American grasshoppers.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"112 2","pages":"133-139"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147463484","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":"THE SALMONID ONCORHYNCHUS MYKISS AND BRYOZOAN FREDERICELLA BOREALIS SERVE AS ACTIVE HOSTS FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN STRAIN OF TETRACAPSULOIDES BRYOSALMONAE, THE CAUSE OF PROLIFERATIVE KIDNEY DISEASE.","authors":"N Das, S D Atkinson, S L Hallett","doi":"10.1645/25-47","DOIUrl":"10.1645/25-47","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The myxozoan parasite responsible for proliferative kidney disease (PKD), Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, alternates between salmonid fishes and freshwater bryozoans to complete its life cycle. However, no active hosts (species that shed viable, infectious spores) for the North American (NA) strain have been identified. We used fish-to-bryozoan and bryozoan-to-fish transmission experiments to assess the active host status of steelhead trout [Oncorhynchus mykiss] and the bryozoan Fredericella borealis. Specific pathogen-free F. borealis colonies were first exposed to effluent from naturally infected O. mykiss and monitored weekly using stereomicroscopy for overt T. bryosalmonae infections. Malacospores from infected colonies were then introduced to naïve O. mykiss, which were held at 16 C and sampled for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and histology 2 and 8 wk post-exposure. Additionally, statoblasts and hatched zooids from overtly infected F. borealis colonies were screened with stereomicroscopy and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to investigate transmission of T. bryosalmonae from zooids to statoblasts. Our results demonstrate that subclinically-infected O. mykiss shed viable fish malacospores of the NA strain of T. bryosalmonae, as evidenced by the development of overt infections in exposed F. borealis. Malacospores shed from the bryozoan subsequently induced clinical PKD in naïve O. mykiss, which exhibited kidney swelling upon necropsy, extrasporogonic stages of the parasite in histology, and PCR detections of T. bryosalmonae DNA. We found no evidence of vertical transmission within F. borealis. Given the widespread rearing and stocking of O. mykiss across North America, these findings highlight the importance of pre-release surveillance in susceptible stocks to prevent dissemination of T. bryosalmonae in habitats where suitable host populations may overlap.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"112 2","pages":"122-132"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147390416","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":"HAEMOSPORIDIANS AS POTENTIAL SOURCES OF GEOGRAPHIC MARKERS FOR IRRUPTIVE BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES.","authors":"Ari A Rice, Robert L Curry, Jason D Weckstein","doi":"10.1645/25-5","DOIUrl":"10.1645/25-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Migratory birds can carry parasites thousands of miles, and therefore their parasite communities may provide an informative means of ascertaining the breeding and wintering locations of their hosts. However, avian parasites (particularly haemosporidians) are rarely used for this purpose because their usefulness is conditional upon knowing where and when birds acquired them during their annual cycles. In this study, we evaluated haemosporidian assemblages among non-resident black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), which occasionally \"irrupt\" south from parts of their northern distributional range to spend winters in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the United States. Specifically, we compared haemosporidian prevalence and lineage diversity from irruptive black-capped chickadees to those of resident Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) and black-capped × Carolina hybrids at 4 southeastern Pennsylvania locations, where most irruptive black-capped chickadees could be genetically and phenotypically identified among local birds. We hoped to (1) gauge whether certain haemosporidian lineages could help identify irruptive individuals among populations of otherwise sedentary black-capped chickadees and (2) roughly estimate where these irruptive birds hatched or bred. Irruptive birds had higher rates of haemosporidian infection than residents, and irruptive birds exclusively harbored a single Plasmodium lineage (BT7). Literature review suggests that lineage BT7 is widespread across the Northern hemisphere but is unlikely to be transmitted between chickadees in our study location. Thus, the presence of lineages such as BT7 may be useful for assessing the composition of seasonally sympatric bird populations with different migratory strategies or at least for identifying non-resident individuals within these populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"112 1","pages":"112-121"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147317287","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":"HOOKSNIP: A BROWSER TOOL FOR DESIGNING ALLELE-SPECIFIC PCR PRIMERS IN HOOKWORM.","authors":"Catherine A Jackson, John M Hawdon, Damien M O'Halloran","doi":"10.1645/25-88","DOIUrl":"10.1645/25-88","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Surveillance for anthelmintic resistance in hookworms requires low-cost, field-deployable genotyping strategies. Allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR) is attractive because it discriminates single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the 3' end of a primer without sequencing infrastructure, thereby enabling rapid detection of drug-resistance markers directly from eggs or larvae. Here, we present hookSNiP (https://ohalloranlab.net/hooksnip), a browser-based application that designs allele-specific primer pairs for Ancylostoma species. The tool provides curated reference genomes, validation of variant call format (VCFs) and genome sequence compatibility, strand-aware primer orientation using gene annotations, and tiered rescue modes when strict primer design constraints cannot be met. By combining these features with AS-PCR, hookSNiP reduces practical barriers to SNP validation and expands the feasibility of large-scale resistance monitoring.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"112 1","pages":"109-111"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12999167/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147317252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"EDUCATION, PARASITE EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY, AND MUSEUMS: PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS.","authors":"Sarah A Orlofske, Robert C Jadin","doi":"10.1645/24-68","DOIUrl":"10.1645/24-68","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Museum collections are indispensable for understanding biodiversity including parasites, hosts, and their interactions. Technological advances have revolutionized modern museum practices, changing the skills future scientists need to engage with museums and utilize their resources to address global environmental and health challenges. Concurrently, museum specimens and digital resources are becoming more accessible and relevant to formal classroom education, fostering the development of critical thinking, data analysis, and problem-solving skills among students. Parasitology collections offer unique insights into host-parasite dynamics and support training in systematic classification and diagnostic methods, counteracting the decline in organismal biology courses and expertise. In this review, we explore the evolving role of museums in parasitology education, highlighting current resources available and identifying areas for further development. We begin by uncovering the historical connections between early parasitology collections and teaching, where instructors collected specimens for educational purposes and students gained hands-on training and expertise in diagnosis and identification through creating their own collections. We describe how modern parasitology collections embody aspects of the extended specimen concept by incorporating comprehensive information about hosts and interactions along with parasite specimens. We outline the need for specialized education and training in museum methods for undergraduate students in parasitology. This includes planning and designing field collections with the extended specimen concept in mind, as well as preserving, curating, databasing, digitizing, and georeferencing specimens. We identify the positive impact of museum resources on enhancing educational opportunities, including Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). As more parasite specimens and collections become accessible through digitization, instructors can integrate virtual specimen images, data, inquiry-based teaching modules, CUREs, and mentored curatorial or research experiences in their classrooms and laboratories. We suggest that museum-based teaching materials can address knowledge gaps in biodiversity literacy, quantitative skills, and critical thinking, ultimately preparing students for future careers in parasitology and related fields such as conservation biology, ecology, natural resources, and veterinary and human medicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"112 1","pages":"100-108"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146197789","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":"COLLECTION AND EXAMINATION OF SMALL-BODIED, FRESHWATER FISH FOR HELMINTH PARASITES.","authors":"Brandon Ruehle, Seth H Bromagen","doi":"10.1645/24-119","DOIUrl":"10.1645/24-119","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Small-bodied, freshwater fish are often used in parasitological studies because they host a variety of parasites. As a result, it is important to have an accessible resource for the collection, housing, and examination of helminth parasites. Fish may be collected using passive (e.g., minnow traps or fyke nets) or active (e.g., seine netting or electrofishing) sampling methods depending on the species and water body being sampled. It is best to keep fish alive (e.g., in aquaria) until immediately prior to euthanasia for dissection. Using an overdose of anesthetic is the preferred method of sacrificing hosts as it limits distress and tissue damage. During dissections, the host should be separated into sections, e.g., the head, eviscerated body, and internal organs, to ensure accurate accounting of infection sites. If monogeneans are of interest the body surface and gills should be thoroughly examined. Natural history collections are also a source of small-bodied fish hosts that can be used to describe historical host-parasite interactions and changes in parasite communities. However, using natural history collections presents issues that require careful consideration, including what specimens are available, where the specimens are housed, obtaining permission from curators, and performing examinations on preserved specimens. Providing an easily accessible resource for recovering helminth parasites from small-bodied fish will allow researchers without backgrounds in parasitology to undertake quality parasitological studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"112 1","pages":"74-83"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146197827","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":"THE RETTENMEYER ARMY ANT GUEST COLLECTION: A MULTIFACETED RESOURCE FOR INVESTIGATING THE FUNDAMENTAL NATURE OF THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN ARMY ANTS AND THEIR \"GUESTS\".","authors":"J N Caira, J E O'Donnell, E Barbeau, B Goffinet, G Goemans","doi":"10.1645/24-73","DOIUrl":"10.1645/24-73","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Less well known in the parasitological community than in the entomological community are the wonderfully complex systems of army ants and the multitude of taxa that associate with them, collectively termed guests. Guests include vertebrates such as antbirds, but also a diversity of arthropods such as beetles, flies, wasps, millipedes, thysanurans, and collembolans. In addition, a wide variety of mites live on the bodies of army ants and appear to have become modified in form to conform with a particular site on their ant host. The nature of the relationships between army ants and many of their guest taxa remains to be definitively determined. Nonetheless, relationships involving commensalism, mutualism, parasitism, parasitoidism, and phoresy have all been described. The Carl W. and Marian E. Rettenmeyer Army Ant Guest Collection (AAGC) is largely the result of 55 yr of fieldwork (from 1951 to 2004) by the Rettenmeyers in the jungles of Central and South America. It was donated to the Biodiversity Research Collection at the University of Connecticut in 2016 and has since been stabilized and almost fully digitized. This multifaceted resource includes specimens of army ants and their guests housed in 7,310 vials and 278 jars of ethanol, 5,500 microscope slides of guests, and 108 Cornell-style drawers of pinned specimens. We estimate that it includes over 2,000,000 specimens representing 40 species of army ants and their numerous species of guests and prey. Ancillary material includes data from, and images of, 6,246 Kodachrome slides and 9,500 field cards that provide detailed observations on the members of these systems in the field. An online database consisting of 4 modules (i.e., Specimens, Colonies, Kodachromes, and Field Cards) provides digital access to these materials. Because of its interconnected and detailed nature, the AAGC can serve as an unprecedented resource not only for expanding understanding of multiple aspects of the associations between army ants and their guests, but also for helping to inform fundamental questions about the evolution of interspecific interactions and, of primary interest to this audience, parasitism and parasitoidism.</p>","PeriodicalId":16659,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology","volume":"112 1","pages":"84-99"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146197770","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}