Raillietina, Fuhrmann, 1920

Mariaux, Jean & Georgiev, Boyko B., 2020, Cestode parasites (Neodermata, Platyhelminthes) from Malaysian birds, with description of five new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 616, pp. 1-35 : 24

Raillietina (sensu lato) sp.

Material examined

MALAYSIA • 1 juv.; Selangor, University of Malaya’s Gombak Field Station ; 3.32° N, 101.77° E; 280–350 m a.s.l.: 5 Aug. 2010; no molecular voucher; MHNG-PLAT-121159 .

Host

Tricholestes criniger (Blyth, 1845) ( Passeriformes , Pycnonotidae ).

Description

This material is distinct from other davaineid species described in this work. Scolex Raillietina -like, 215 in diameter; large suckers, 135–145 (139, n = 4) in diameter, armed with 8 rows of hooklets, 10–13 long; rostellum 92 in diameter and 89 long, bearing ca 110 hooks in two rows, anterior row 17–19 long, posterior row 16–18 long. Genital pores unilateral. Early male proglottides containing 17–23 testes.

Remarks

The combination of hook characteristics observed in our material is uncommon and has almot never been reported in Raillietina (s. lat.) ( Artiukh 1966; Movsessian 2003a). Interestingly, the single species with overlapping characters is Paroniella pycnonoti ( Yamaguti & Mitunaga, 1943) found in Pycnonotus sinensis formosae Hartert, 1910 in Taiwan.

However, although the original description of Yamaguti & Mitunaga (1943) was correctly summarized by Artiukh (1966) and Movsessian (2003a), these authors failed to notice that in the original description the number of rostellar hooks was described as “… arranged in two alternating circles of 105–115 each”. The total number of hooks in P. pycnonoti should thus be 210–230 in total, a figure different from what we observed in our material, which remains an unidentified species, either in Raillietina or Paroniella .