Rhabdias elaphe Sharpilo, 1976

KUZMIN, YURIY, 2013, Review of Rhabdiasidae (Nematoda) from the Holarctic, Zootaxa 3639 (1), pp. 1-76 : 37

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.3639.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:32584FBD-212B-4042-BCEF-04C698D71117

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5262499

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/039087A9-FF8B-FFB1-09F0-FC13ACB2CDDF

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Rhabdias elaphe Sharpilo, 1976
status

 

Rhabdias elaphe Sharpilo, 1976

( Fig. 18 View FIGURE 18 )

Hosts: Zamenis hohenackeri , Z. longissimus ( Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae ), occasionally Lacerta viridis ( Reptilia: Sauria : Lacertidae ).

Site: lung.

Distribution: Western Palaearctic. Western, Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus.

Description: Body length 5.21 (3.57–6.35) mm, maximum width 222 (132–299). Body cuticle thin, its outer surface transversely striated. Six cephalic lips arranged in two lateral groups. Oral opening wide, round. Vestibulum absent. Buccal capsule wide, funnel-shaped, 10 (8–12) deep and 24 (22–26) wide. Buccal capsule walls free from oesophageal tissue. Oesophagus comparatively wide, club-shaped, 311 (274–332) long (6.2 [4.5–8.6] % of body length). Posterior bulb of oesophagus 76 (60–92) wide. Nerve ring situated 147 (116–174) from anterior end of oesophagus (47.4 [36.8–54.0] % of oesophagus length). Excretory glands prominent, approximately as long as oesophagus. Intestine wide, its anterior end usually wider than posterior bulb of oesophagus. Rectum prominently sclerotised. Vulva situated at 2.39 (1.70–3.07) mm from anterior end (46.5 [39.5–51.6] % of total length). Eggs numbering 64 (27–107) in gravid specimens, containing embryos on early cleavage stages. Egg size 88–99 × 41–46 (after Sharpilo 1976). Tail wide, conical, 204 (149–249) long (4.0 [3.2–5.6] % of body length). Tail end tapered.

Biology (after Kuzmin and Miskov 1999). Life cycle is of strongyloid type. Homogony predominates with average ratio of homogonic:heterogonic stages 11:1. In the gonochoristic generation, males are more numerous than females (average ratio 2.6:1). Matricidal hatching is absent in the development of free-living generation’s offspring. Homo- and heterogonic infective larvae are similar in morphology. Development in the specific host was not studied; juveniles were able to develop up to the subadult stage in experimentally infected grass snake, Natrix natrix (Colubridae) .

Material studied: 29 specimens measured ( SIZK), including 22 specimens from Z. longissima (13 from Carpathian Mountains , 9 from the Black Sea northern coast, Ukraine), 4 specimens from Z. hohenackeri ( Armenia) and 1 specimen from L. viridis (Carpathian Mountains, Ukraine); 37 specimens from France ( MNHN, 139Q) .

References: Sharpilo (1976), Lewin (1993), Kuzmin and Miskov (1999).

SIZK

Schmaulhausen Institute of Zoology

MNHN

Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Nematoda

Class

Chromadorea

Order

Rhabditida

Family

Rhabdiasidae

Genus

Rhabdias

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