Aegithina tiphia (Linnaeus, 1758)

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 : 213-214

Aegithina tiphia (L.) ( Aegithinidae )

Haemoproteus aegithinae de Mello, 1935 ( Fig. 2 )

Locality. – Indonesia: Java, Lingo lowland secondary forest, Jun.2001. In one bird, very low infection; three microgametocytes and one macrogametocyte were found .

Type host. – Aegithinia tiphia ( India) .

Description. – Macrogametocyte – 13.2 (cross 9.7) × 1.1, nucleus 1.1 × 0.88; infected erythrocyte − 11.2 × 6.4, nucleus 4.8 × 1.98, n = 1; microgametocytes – 10.3–10.6 (cross: 9.7–10.3) × 1.5–2.4, n = 2; infected erythrocyte – 10.8–11.2 × 5.9–6.6; nucleus − 4.2–5.2 × 2.0–2.4. NDR of all infected erythrocytes: 0.6. The non-infected erythrocytes are 10.1 ± 0.58 × 6.51 ± 0.4, with nucleus 4.6 ± 0.27 × 2.9 ± 0.17, n = 6.

Measurements made by Bennett & Peirce (1990) and Valkiunas (1997) are: macrogametocytes – 15.1 ± 1.3 × 2.7 ± 1.6, with nucleus 2.5 ± 0.6 × 1.5 ± 0.4; infected erythrocyte–13.2 ± 0.8 × 7.3 ± 0.6, with nucleus 5.7 ± 0.6 × 2.2 ± 0.2; microgametocyte–12.3 ± 4.7 × 2.8 ± 0.3; infected erythrocytes- 12.7 ± 2.7 × 7.2 ± 0.5, with nucleus 5.8 ± 0.5 × 2.0 ± 0.4; NDR: 0.8 ± 0.1.

Remarks. – The gametocytes closely adjoin the erythrocyte nucleus and embrace it, but do not surround it; its borders remain partly removed from the erythrocytic wall. Fullygrown gametocytes as reported by Bennett & Peirce (1990) tightly adhere to the erythrocyte wall and completely fill the erythrocyte space. The micro- and macrogametocytes of Aeg. tiphia from Java, as well as the infected and noninfected erythrocytes, are smaller than in the type host with NDR 0.6 rather than 0.8 as previously reported. The pigment granules in the observed macrogametocyte were fine and few, aggregated with a volutin granule around two vacuoles. In the microgametocytes, the pigment granules both coarse and fine, number over 20 and (in two out of three) occur mainly along the rims.

Figures

Fig. 2. Haemoproteus aegithinae from Aegithina tiphia, Java (from left: microgametocyte and macrogametocyte).