Gyropus martini matthaeensis Werneck, 1948

Valim, Michel P. & Linardi, Pedro Marcos, 2008, A taxonomic catalog, including host and geographic distribution, of the species of the genus Gyropus Nitzsch (Phthiraptera: Amblycera: Gyropidae), Zootaxa 1899, pp. 1-24 : 9-10

Gyropus martini matthaeensis Werneck, 1948

Gyropus martini matthaeensis Werneck 1948: 65 , fig. 55 (detail of the male genital sclerite, dorsal view), fig.

56 (detail of the male genital sclerite, ventral view). Type locality: Brazil, Espírito Santo, São Mateus, vale do Rio Itaúnas, Ribeiro do Engano. Type host: Unknown. Typology: Holotype male, ‘allotype’ female and two male paratypes held by FIOC. There are male paratypes in alcohol, vial 260 in support 26, at FIOC.

Emerson and Price 1981: 44 (host-parasite checklist). Cicchino and Castro 1990: 322 (checklist of Gyropus species on Echimyidae ). Cardoso-de-Almeida et al. 2003: 235 (list of type material in Instituto Oswaldo Cruz). Price et al. 2003: 77 (checklist).

Gyropus matthaeensis, Hopkins and Clay 1952: 161 (checklist and presumption of the host as a Proechimys sp.).

Distribution. BRAZIL (Espírito Santo).

Host. Trinomys panema (Moojen) (see remarks below).

Remarks. Based on morphological characters such as male genitalia and abdominal chaetotaxy (Werneck 1934, 1948), G. martini matthaeensis belongs to a group of species found infesting spiny-rats of the genus Trinomys . The assumption of Hopkins and Clay (1952) is valid because the species now included in Trinomys have often been considered as members of Proechimys s. l. ( Wilson and Reeder 2005). Moreover, from its locality of collection, the type host could not be included within the geographic range of Proechimys s. s. ( Gardner and Emmon 1984; Patton 1987; Lara and Patton 2000), based on such distribution the species in the genus Trinomys knows in Espírito Santo state are T. gratiosus , T. panema , T. setosus , and T. paratus (Moojen) ( Lara and Patton 2000; Iack-Ximenes 2005). Based on the results obtained herein, (1) it is assumed that two Gyropus species are not found on the same Trinomys species, (2) that T. gratiosus is probably the correct host name to G. m. iheringi (see note for this species), (3) that T. setosus is the host of G. limai , (4) T. gratiosus and T. panema are morphologically close species ( Iack-Ximenes 2005) (cryptic species by Iack-Ximenes, pers. comm.), which is confirmed by the close morphological similarity between G. m. iheringi and G. m. matthaeensis ( Werneck 1948) . It is possible that Trinomys panema should be the correct host for G. m. matthaeensis . However, further collections of lice from this host will prove or reject the present hypothesis.