Physaloptera Rudolphi, 1819

Physaloptera sp. (larvae)

Host and record: Rhinella fernandezae (Gallardo, 1957) (= C. fernandezae) (Co), Rhinella major (Müller and Hellmich, 1936) (= C. g. major) (Co), Rhinella schneideri (Werner, 1894) (Co), Scinax acuminatus (Cope, 1862) (Co), Leptodactylus bufonius Boulenger, 1894 (Co), Physalaemus biligonigerus (Cope, 1861) (Cb), Physalaemus santafecinus Barrio, 1965 (Co), Physalaemus albonotatus (Steindachner, 1864) (Co), Scinax nasicus (Cope, 1862) (Co) .

Site of infection: Gastric mucosa.

Material deposited: CECOAL 0 3023543, 0 8102210 ( R. fernandezae), CECOAL 0 303361 ( R. major), CECOAL 0 3013425 ( R. schneideri), CECOAL 0 5040701 ( S. acuminatus), CECOAL 99012801 ( L. bufonius), FBCBPC 1000-3 ( P. biligonigerus), CECOAL 0 3074252 ( P. santafecinus), CECOAL 0 6030612 ( P. albonotatus), CECOAL 0 6073104 ( S. nasicus).

References: Gutiérrez et al. (2005), González & Hamann (2006a; 2006b; 2007a; 2008; 2010a; 2012b), Hamann et al. (2009b; 2010; 2013).

Life cycle: Species of Physaloptera are parasites of mammals and reptiles, which acquire the infections from ingesting insects containing infective larvae. Larvae ingested by possible paratenic hosts (such as anurans) generally attach to the gastric mucosa and can persist for varying periods of time (Anderson 2000).