Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2008-05-23
Page range: 39–50
Abstract views: 31
PDF downloaded: 1

New species of Syphacia (Syphacia) Seurat (Nematoda : Oxyuridae) from Pseudomys species (Rodentia : Muridae) from central Australia

School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702 Current address: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200
Parasitology Section, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000
Nematoda Oxyuridae Muridae Pseudomys Syphacia desert Australia

Abstract

Syphacia (Syphacia) brevicaudata sp. nov. is described from the desert rodents Pseudomys desertor Troughton, 1936 and P. hermannsburgensis (Waite, 1896); Syphacia (Syphacia) pseudomyos sp. nov. is described from P. hermannsburgensis from western Queensland and central Northern Territory, Australia. Syphacia (Syphacia) brevicaudata is distinguished from all other species of Syphacia by having a suite of characters including an oval, dorsally and ventrally constricted cephalic plate, no cervical alae, a relatively short tail and two pairs of post-anal papillae. Syphacia (Syphacia) pseudomyos is distinguished from all other species of Syphacia by having a suite of characters including an oval, dorsally and ventrally constricted cephalic plate, no cervical or lateral alae, one pair of post-anal papillae, a relatively short tail and large eggs. Females of a putative species were distinct due to the lack of a cephalic plate but had other characters consistent with the genus. Two other putative species of Syphacia, females only, also collected from P. hermannsburgensis and having oval dorsally and ventrally constricted cephalic plates, could be distinguished from their congeners by a combination of characters including the presence of cervical alae, Syphacia sp. 2, and a protruding vulva, Syphacia sp. 3. These new species are the first records of oxyurid nematodes from the genus Pseudomys, and from Australian arid-zone rodents.

References

  1. Anderson, R.C. (2000) Nematode parasites of vertebrates: Their development and transmission. CAB International, Oxford. 650 pp.

    Archer, M., Arena, R., Bassarova, M., Black, K., Brammall, J., Cooke, B., Creaser, P., Crosby, K., Gillespie, A., Godthelp, H., Gott, M., Hand, S.J., Kear, B., Krikmann, A., Mackness, B., Muirhead, J., Musser, A., Myers, T.,

    Pledge, N., Wang, Y. & Wroe, S. (1999) The evolutionary history and diversity of Australian mammals. Australian Mammalogy, 21, 1–45.

    Breed, W.G. (1995) Sandy inland mouse, Pseudomys hermannsburgensis., In: R. Strahan (ed.).The mammals of Australia. Reed Books, Sydney. pp. 604–605.

    Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. (2006) CSIRO list of Australian vertebrates. A reference with conservation status. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. 162 pp.

    Cox, C.B. & Moore, P.D. (2005) Biogeography: An ecological and evolutionary approach. Blackwell, Oxford. 428 pp.

    Dickman, C.R., Mahor, P.S., Masters, P. & Gibson, D.F. (1999) Long-term dynamics of rodent populations in arid Australia: The influence of rainfall. Wildlife Research, 26, 389–403.

    Flannery, T.F. (1995) The mammals of New Guinea. Reed Books, Sydney. 568 pp.

    Godthelp, H. (2001) The Australian rodent fauna, flotillas, flotsam or just fleet footed?, In: I. Metcalfe, J. M. B. Smith, M. Morwood, and I. Davidson (eds.).Faunal and floral migrations and evolution in SE Asia-Australasia. AA Balkema, Lisse. pp. 319–321.

    Hasegawa, H. (1991) Syphacia (Syphacia) ohtaorum n. sp. (Nematoda: Oxyuridae) from Mus caroli on Okinawa Island, Japan. Systematic Parasitology, 18, 221–226.

    Hasegawa, H. & Tarore, D. (1996) Syphacia (Syphacia) sulawesiensis n. sp. and S. (S.) muris (Yamaguti 1935) (Nematoda: Oxyuridae) collected from Rattus xanthurus (Gray 1867) (Rodentia: Muridae) in north Sulawesi, Indonesia. Tropical Zoology, 9, 165–173.

    Hugot, J.-P. (1988) Les nématodes Syphaciinae, parasites de rongeurs et de lagomorphs: Taxonomie, zoogéographie, evolution. Mémoires du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 141, 1–148.

    Hugot, J.-P. & Quentin, J.-C. (1985) Étude morphologique de six espèces nouvelles on peu connues appartenant au genre Syphacia (Oxyuridae, Nematoda), parasites de rongeurs Cricétidés et Muridés. Bulletin du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle Série 4, 7, 383–400.

    Mackerras, M.J. (1958) Catalogue of Australian mammals and their recorded internal parasites. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 83, 101–160.

    Quentin, J.-C. (1971) Morphologie comparée des structures céphaliques et genitales des Oxyures du genre Syphacia. annales de Parasitologies Humaine et Comparée, 46, 15–60.

    Smales, L.R. (1997) A review of the helminth parasites of Australian rodents. Australian Journal of Zoology, 45, 505–521.

    Smales, L.R. (2001) Syphacia longaecauda n. sp. (Nematoda: Oxyuridae) Syphacinea from Melomys spp. (Muridae: Hydomyinae) from Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Parasite, 8, 39–43.

    Smales, L.R. (2004) Syphacia (Syphacia) australasiensis sp. nov. (Nematoda: Oxyuridae) from Rattus leucopus (Muridae) from Papua New Guinea and Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 128, 47–51.

    Smales, L.R. (2005) Helminth parasites of the grassland melomys (Muridae: Hydromyinae) from Australia and Papua New Guinea. Australian Journal of Zoology, 53, 369–374.

    Strahan, R. (1995) The mammals of Australia. Reed Books, Sydney. 756 pp.

    Watts, C.H.S. & Aslin, H.J. (1981) The rodents of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Australia. 321pp.

    Weaver, H.J. & Smales, L.R. (2006) Syphacia (Syphacia) abertoni n. sp. (Nematoda: Oxyuridae) from Zyzomys argurus (Thomas) (Rodentia: Muridae) from northern Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 131, 206–210.