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Type: Correspondence
Published: 2019-09-10
Page range: 296–300
Abstract views: 92
PDF downloaded: 1

Redescription and new records of Polymorphus trochus (Van Cleave, 1945) (Polymorphida: Polymorphidae), in Mexico

Laboratorio de Sistemas Biosustentables, Facultad de Ciencias, campus El Cerrillo, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México. Carretera Toluca-Tlachaloya Km. 4.5, 50200 Toluca, México
Laboratorio de Sistemas Biosustentables, Facultad de Ciencias, campus El Cerrillo, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México. Carretera Toluca-Tlachaloya Km. 4.5, 50200 Toluca, México
Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 70-153, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
Annelida Polymorphida Polymorphidae

Abstract

Polymorphus trochus Van Cleave, 1945, is an acanthocephalan with limited distribution to the Americas and a common parasite of birds of the Rallidae family (Kinsella et al. 1973, McDonald 1988 and Amin 1992), mainly of the American coot Fulica americana Gmelin, 1789; however, despite existing records of this species, the knowledge and descriptions of its morphological characteristics are not sufficient. Therefore, the identification of this species can be confusing, particularly because it depends on the form of the proboscis of the female. Van Cleave (1945) provided a description and illustrations of this species based on 14 females and 2 males specimens collected in the intestine of F. americana from Lake Buckeye in Ohio, Lake Oneida in New York, and the Illinois River in Illinois; however, this description does not mention many traits that are taxonomically important. Years later, Nickol (1966, thesis not published) provided a description of P. trochus based on 36 mature specimens (14 females and 22 male) from Louisiana, but the author illustrated only the proboscis and included a schematic of the female. He described the shape and size of the proboscis in both sexes, provided measurements of the apical, middle and basal hooks of the proboscis armor, and measurements of the eggs. However, he did not mention the exact distribution of the hooks and spines of the trunk, the measurement of a complete row of hooks nor the shape of all the sexual organs, especially the female ones, which are important taxonomic characteristics in the polymorphids.

 

References

  1. Amin, O.M. (1992) Review of the genus Polymorphus Luhe, 1911 (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae), with the synonymization of Hexaglandula Petrochenko, 1950, and Subcorynosoma Hoklova, 1967, and a key to the species. Qatar University Science Journal, 12, 115 –123.

    Alemán-Canales, E., Zuria, I., Pulido-Flores, G. & Monks, S. (2014) Distribución geográfica helmintos parásitos (Acanthocephala) de aves de México. Tlamati, 5 (3), 5 –13.

    Kinsella, J.M., Hon, L.T. & Reed, P.B. Jr. (1973) A comparision of the helminth parasities of the common gallinule (Gallinula galeata cachinnans) and the purple gallinule (Porphyrula martinica) in Florida. American Midland Naturalist, 89 (2), 467–473.

    https://doi.org/10.2307/2424053

    McDonald, M.E. (1988) Key to Acanthocephala Reported in Waterfowl. Resource Publication 173. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C., 45 pp.

    Nickol, B.B. (1966) Acanthocephala of Louisiana Birds. PhD thesis, Louisiana State University, Louisiana, 118 pp.

    Van Cleave, H.J. (1945) A New Species of the Acanthocephalan Genus Polymorphus from the American Coot. Journal of Parasitology, 31 (2), 128–130.

    https://doi.org/10.2307/3272936