Dispharynx nasuta (Rudolphi, 1819)

Syrota, Ya. Yu., Kharchenko, V. O., Lyaskivskiy, V. N., Kobylinsky, V. V. & Vasylkivska, I. B., 2015, Finding Of Two Species From The Tribe Synhimantea (Nematoda, Acuariidae) In The Kyiv Zoological Park, Vestnik Zoologii 49 (6), pp. 483-488 : 486-487

Dispharynx nasuta (Rudolphi, 1819)

H o s t: Common crane ( G. grus )

L o c a l i t y: Kyiv, Ukraine

S i t e o f i n f e c t i o n: proventriculus

I n t e n s i t y: 57

Cuticle with clear transverse striation. Mouth surrounded by two pseudolabia. Two pairs of cordons presented. Convoluted cordons beginning at anterior end of body, extending to posterior edge of muscular esophagus, then turning anteriorly and finishing at level of anterior edge of muscular esophagus ( fig 1 , 2). Recurrent branches of cordons unmerged. In females, cordons more convoluted then in males. Bicuspid cervical papillae between recurrent branches of cordons. Nerve ring in the first half of muscular esophagus. Mouth opening into short buccal capsule. Glandular part of esophagus almost three times longer than muscular part. Excretory pore opening approximately at level of cervical papillae.

Male (n = 10). Body length 3.1–7.5 (6.2) mm, maximum width 237–347 (305) µm. Buccal capsule 69–99 (85) µm long. Distance from anterior end of body to nerve ring 218– 260 (239) µm, to cervical papilla 287–475 (359) µm, to excretory pore 327-481 (373) µm. Cordons 304–710 (512) µm in total length, descending branch 205–470 (344) µm long, recurrent branch 99–240 (168) µm long. Muscular part of esophagus 475–891 (632) µm long, glandular part 1.6–2.6 (2.0) mm long. Caudal alae in posterior quarter of body, 504–729 µm long. Nine pairs of caudal papillae: 4 pairs preanal and 5 pairs postanal. Spicules unequal. Left spicule long and thin, spine-shaped, 336–495 (409) µm long. Right spicule short and wide, canoe-shaped, 119–188 (165) µm. Tail 307–485 (377) µm long.

Female (n = 10). Body length 5.4–7.4 (6.7) mm, maximum width 376–650 (497) µm. Buccal capsule 89–129 (99) µm long. Distance from anterior end of body to nerve ring 198–257 (232) µm, to cervical papilla 366–802 (529) µm, to excretory pore 406–733 (542) µm. Cordons 435–979 (813) µm in total length, descending branch 315–630 (540) µm long, recurrent branch 120–449 (272) µm. Muscular part of esophagus 505–772 (633) µm long. Vulva opening in posterior quarter of body. Distance from posterior end of body to vulva 0.9–1.6 (1.3) mm. Tail 119–217 (150) µm long.

The present record is the first finding of this parasite in G. grus on the territory of Ukraine. Di. nasuta is uncommon for cranes, so the parasite morphology was studied in detail. We compared original morphometric data on Di. nasuta with the information published by other authors ( Zhang et al., 2004). Comparison showed that the range of characters’ variability agrees with literature data (table 1). However, the mean values of metrical characters in our sample was somewhat larger than those in literature.

Intensity of infection in the bird that lived all its life in the Zoo was rather high. Therefore, we assumed that infection had a local source. Terrestrial isopoda are known as the intermediate host of this parasite. Therefore, individuals of Oniscidea spp. (Isopoda) were collected near aviary of the crane. In the isopods, we determined a high level of intensity (1–10) and prevalence (44 %) of infection by nematode larvae. Our measurements of the larvae collected were compared to the data from literature (table 2). Comparison shows that ranges of variability of metrical characters are similar in both samples. However, minimum and maximum values of some characters differed distinctly. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative characters of collected larvae, host, and presence of adult nematodes close to the place where woodlice were collected allowed us to identify the larvae as Di. nasuta .

Figures

Fig. 1. De. sagitattus and Di. nasuta: 1 — anterior end of De. sagitattus; 2 — anterior end of Di. nasuta; 3 — anterior end of the larva Di. nasuta; 4 — posterior end of the larva Di. nasuta; pl — pseudolabia, bc — buccal capsule, cp — cervical papilla, nr — nerve ring, c — cordons, em — muscular esophagus, eg — glandural esophagus; a — anal pore. Scale bar 100 µm.