Acuaria anthuris ( Rudolphi, 1819 ) Railliet, Henry & Sisoff, 1912

Yasen Mutafchiev, Jean Mariaux & Boyko B. Georgiev, 2017, Description of Acuaria europaea n. sp. (Spirurida: Acuariidae) from Dendrocopos syriacus (Hemprich & Ehrenberg) and Oriolus oriolus (L.) (Aves) in Europe, with results of re-examination of related European species of Acuaria Bremser, 1811, Systematic Parasitology 94, pp. 201-214 : 211

Observations on specimens from Oriolus oriolus included in the type-series of Acuaria anthuris ( Rudolphi, 1819) Railliet, Henry & Sisoff, 1912

Material studied: ZMB ‘‘Vermes’’ 170E, syntypes (1 male and 1 fragmented female) from Oriolus oriolus (L.) ( Passeriformes : Oriolidae ).

Male. Body 7.8 mm long. Cordons 713 long. Excretory pore 297 from anterior extremity. Buccal cavity 155 long. Muscular and glandular oesophagus, 367 and 1,184 long, respectively. Nerve-ring 190 from anterior extremity. Tail 169 long. Caudal alae 330 long. Caudal papillae: 4 precloacal pairs and 6 postcloacal pairs. Left spicule broken. Right spicules 107 long.

Female. Total length of body fragments 22.10 mm. Cordons 341 long. Deirids at excretory pore, 244 and 314 from anterior extremity, respectively. Buccal cavity 195 long. Muscular and glandular oesophagus, 535 and 1,104 long, respectively. Nerve-ring 229 from anterior extremity. Tail 162 long. Eggs oval, 33–34 9 19–20 (n = 5), containing fully-developed embryos.

Remarks

Acuaria anthuris was described based on material from Corvus frugilegus L. ( Passeriformes : Corvidae ), Garrulus glandarius (L.) ( Passeriformes : Corvidae ), Coracias garrulus L. ( Coraciiformes : Coraciidae ) and Oriolus oriolus (L.) (= Oriolus galbula) (see Rudolphi, 1819). The location of the type-material from Corvus frugilegus is unknown; the type-specimens from G. glandarius and C. garrulus have been lost ( Hartwich, 1970). Type-specimens from O. oriolus only were available for re-examination.

Acuaria anthuris has often been recorded as a parasite of various birds of the family Corvidae (see below). Specimens from Corvidae were characterised with cordons that extend beyond the oesophago-intestinal junction and with robust spicules, left and right of similar size, longer than 190 lm ( Chabaud & Petter 1961; Mawson, 1972; Smogorzhevskaya, 1990). The sample from O. oriolus deposited in the collection of Rudolphi consists of a male and a female that differ from one another by the relative lengths of their cordons and we consider them as belonging to different species. However, both type-specimens differ by their much shorter cordons from the species of Acuaria parasitising Corvidae . In addition, the male from O. oriolus has a shorter right spicule. The present study reveals that the original description of A. anthuris was based on heterogeneous materials.

On the basis of our current knowledge of the morphological diversity of the species of Acuaria , we are not able to assign these two specimens from O. oriolus to any known species.