Garrulax mitratus (Muller)

Paperna, Ilan, Keong, Malcolm Soh Chu & May, Charlotte Yap Aye, 2008, Haemosporozoan Parasites Found In Birds In Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sarawak And Java, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 56 (2), pp. 211-243 : 220

Garrulax mitratus (Muller)

Locality. – Malaysia: Fraser’s Hill , Aug.2002 and Jul.2003 .

Remarks. – Haemoproteus timalus has been recorded, in addition to the African origin type host species Turdoides rubiginosus , from Southeast Asian timaliid hosts including Garrulax spp. [Bennett et al., 1991; Valkiunas, 1997 (2005)]. The gametocytes recovered from the timaliid Pellorneum capistratum from Sarawak and Java, however, conform better than those from Garrulax spp. with the type description. The gametocytes embrace the erythrocyte nucleus and fill the entire space between the nucleus and erythrocyte wall.

Contrary to the type description by Bennettt et al. (1991), who reported the presence of “amoeboid outlines” (projections) also in fully mature specimens, the gametocytes from Garrulax spp. rarely extend wall projections, and only in the younger specimens. The infected erythrocyte becomes enlarged as previously reported, whereas the host-cell nucleus is frequently considerably displaced (NDR approximately 0.6, with the exception of a microgametocyte-infected Gar. mitratus erythrocyte, which is approximately 0.8, comparable with 0.8 in the type material and 0.76–0.87 of Pellorneum capistratum infections). The pigment granules, numbering about 10–11, are robustly-elongate and of medium size, as in the other described Hae. timalus .