Lueheia inscripta (Westrumb, 1821)

Smales, Lesley R., 2013, Acanthocephala including the descriptions of new species of Centrorhynchus (Centrorhynchidae) and the redescription of Lueheia inscripta (Westrumb, 1821) (Plagiorhynchidae) from birds from Paraguay South America, Revue suisse de Zoologie 120 (2), pp. 175-202 : 196-199

Lueheia inscripta (Westrumb, 1821) Figs 44 - 48

MATERIAL EXAMINED: MHNG-INVE-38401, MNHG-INVE-38402; voucher specimens, 2 males, 5 females, 20 juveniles, from small intestine, Turdus amaurochalinus Cabanis, 1850 ; Paraguay, S. Lorenzo N 10 E, 16.10.1987, 16.10.1989 . – MHNG-INVE-48453; voucher specimen, 1 male, from small intestine, T. amaurochalinus ; Paraguay, Pedro P Pena, 8.10.1986 . – MHNG-INVE-38389; voucher specimens, 2 females, from small intestine, Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758; Paraguay, Transchaco 180, 28.10.1988 . – MHNG-INVE-38436; voucher specimens, 3 juveniles, from small intestine Taraba major (Vieillot, 1816); Paraguay, Transchaco 293, 04.07.1985 . – MHNG-INVE-38400; 15 immature specimens, proboscides inverted, from small intestine, T. major; Paraguay, S. Lorenzo 10 E, 16.10.1989 . – MHNG-INVE-38399. 1 female, Synallaxis sp. S. Lorenzo N 10 E, 16.10.1989 .

REDESCRIPTION

General: [Based on 3 males, 4 females, 40 immature or juvenile specimens and Travassos (1926)]. Trunk spineless, elongated, fusiform. Proboscis subglobular to semispherical; armed with 28-30 rows 9-12 hooks; largest hooks located mid proboscis, first and last 2 hooks in row 17-25 long, other hooks 40-56 long. Neck spineless, short, longer than wide in female. Proboscis receptacle double walled. Lemnisci 2, each subdivided into 3 long slender parts of varying lengths inserted at base of neck, extend posteriorly reaching beyond anterior testis. Cerebral ganglion located at mid region of proboscis receptacle.

Male: Trunk 8-11 (9.5) mm long, 1200-1530 (1365) wide. Proboscis 380-600 (480) long, 310-430 (400) wide. Neck 348 long, 348 wide at base. Proboscis receptacle 1375-1615 (1530) long, 320-340 (330) wide; lemnisci (single measurement) longest parts 4760, shortest parts 2550. Testes oval, contiguous, in middle third of trunk; anterior testis 1000-1205 (1135) long, 400-630 (522) wide; posterior testis 1000-1200 (1075) long, 375-500 (460) wide. Cement glands, 4, (by dissection) elongated, tubular, begin immediately posterior to end of posterior testis, 1900-2550 (2385) long. Genital pore subterminal. Entire male system occupies about 65% of trunk length.

FIGS 44-48

Lueheia inscripta (Westrumb, 1821) (44) Male. (45) Female reproductive tract. (46) Proboscis hooks, longitudinal rows of 11 hooks. (47) Female proboscis, showing armature. (48) Egg. Scale bars: 44, 1 mm; 45, 150 µm; 46, 48, 25 µm; 47, 100 µm.

Female: Trunk 7-15 (10.4) mm long, 1870-2200 (1990) wide. Proboscis 425-530 (477) long, 402-420 (410) wide just anterior to constriction. Hook lengths 2 longitudinal rows 25, 23; 42, 40; 50, 49; 49, 50; 45, 49; 45, 40; 40, 40; 40, 40; 50, 40; 35, 25; 30, 25. Neck 201 long, 445 wide at base. Proboscis receptacle 1570-1700 (1637) long, 300-325 (312) wide. Reproductive tract, uterine bell to genital pore, 1070- 1140 (1105). Genital pore subterminal. Eggs oval, external shell thick, with polar protrusions of the fertilization membrane, 59.5-78.0 (63.0) long, 23.0-28.0 (24.0) wide.

COMMENTS: Although identified as early as 1821 (Westrumb) and redescribed by Travassos (1926) from specimens occurring in Turdidae from Brazil, the descriptions of L. inscripta were brief and gave only limited morphometric data, especially for females. More recently Whittaker et al. (1970b) reported L. inscripta from grackles, Quiscalis niger (Boddaert, 1783) and Acholonu (1976) reported juvenile males and females from lizards Anolis cristatellus Duméril & Bibron, 1837 from Puerto Rico. Subsequently Salgado-Maldonado & Caspeta-Mandujano (2010) reported on juveniles in frogs, Lepidodactylus fragilis Brochi, 1877 and a toad Bufo marinus (Linnaeus, 1758). These latter authors provided comprehensive descriptions of both male and female juveniles and demonstrated that the morphology and morphometrics of their specimens from paratenic hosts were congruent with those of adult specimens of L. inscripta from passerine birds (Table 4).

Although L. inscripta and L. adlueheia have been considered synonyms by some authors (see for example Schmidt & Neiland, 1966), they should now both accepted as valid species, on the basis of reexamination of specimens and reevaluation of characters (Van Cleave & Williams, 1952; Salgado-Maldonado & Caspeta- Mandujano, 2010). Both L. inscripta and L. adlueheia have similar proboscis armature (28-30 longitudinal rows of 9-12 hooks compared with 28 rows of 9-10 hooks) and hook size (largest blades 63 compared with 62 long) but they can be distinguished by a suite of other characters. Lueheia inscripta differs from L. adlueheia in having a larger proboscis, shorter cement glands, longer Saefftigen’s pouch, larger eggs and the number of branches of the lemnisci and their lengths (4-6 of varying lengths compared with 6-10 of similar lengths) (Table 4).

Lueheia inscripta differs from the type species L. lueheia in proboscis armature (28-30 rows of 9-12 hooks compared with 20-22 rows of 8-9 hooks). Both species have 6 lemnisci but those of L. inscripta are of varying lengths while those of L. lueheia are of similar lengths. The testes of L. inscripta are larger (1000-1205 long compared with 700) and the eggs smaller (59.5-78 by 23-28 compared with 78-80 by 28-31) ( Travassos 1921, 1926).

The proboscis armature of L. cajabambensis is not described except to say that the form and number of hooks differs from those of L. lueheia and L. inscripta . Lueheia inscripta further differs from L. cajabambensis in having up to 6 lemnisci compared with only 4, smaller testes (1000-1205 compared with 1748-1992 long), shorter cement glands (1900-2550 compared with 4834) and shorter Saefftigen’s pouch (600-700 compared with 1909) (Machado-Filho & Nicanor-Ibáñez, 1967).

A new species, L. karachiensis , was described from 3 males occurring in A. b. cenchroides from Karachi, Pakistan. As described, the only character suggesting that these specimens are of the genus Lueheia is the presence of 4 lemnisci. The body shape of this species both from the description and figure appears more like Centrorhynchus than Lueheia as does the placement of testes in anterior third of the trunk and the proportions of the reproductive system. The description of the proboscis, subglobular with no measurements given, differs from the more or less cylindrical shape depicted in the figure. The roots of the proboscis hooks are neither described nor drawn ( Aly Khan et al., 2005). Given that the other four species of Luehia are found in passerine birds from the Americas and this species in a raptor from the Indian subcontinent it seems most TABLE 4. Comparative information for Lueheia inscripta (Wertheim, 1821) and L. adlueheia ( Werby, 1938) . *This measurement may be in error.

L. inscripta L. inscripta juveniles L. inscripta L. adlueheia

Reference Travassos, 1926 Salgado-Maldonado this study Werby, 1938

& Caspeta-

Mandujano, 1910

Male

Trunk length mm 8 2.4-3.6 8-11 3.5-9.2

Proboscis length 520-620 420-560 380-600 385-490 width 410-430 330-380 310-430 280-385

Neck length 190-270 348 126-210 width 270-330 348

Proboscis receptacle length 1600 732-1108 1375-1615 749-1190 width 340 297-346 320-340

Lemnisci, number 4-6 6 6 6-10 length 891-1336 2250-4760 840-1820

Anterior testis length 1000 270-366 1000-1205 231-1274 width 400-500 75-200 400-630 120-177

Posterior testis length 237-375 1000-1200 280-1267 width 62-265 375-500 154-776

Cement glands 1900 740-1087 1900-2550 700-3430

Saefftigen’s pouch 28-43* 600-700 200-400

Female

Trunk length mm 9-15 4.0-4.7 7-15 11.3-15

Proboscis length 540-610 425-530 399-602 width 370-410 402-420 315-525

Reproductive tract length 1900 800-1100 1070-1140

Egg length 63-78 59.5-78 36-41 width 28 23-28 12.7-15.5

Hosts Turdidae Anura Turdidae Turdidae

Locality Brazil Mexico Paraguay Washington USA

likely that L. karachiensis should be re assigned, possibly to the genus Centrorhynchus . Multiple lemnisci have been recorded as anomalies in Fillicollis sphaerocephalis (Bremser in Rudolphi, 1819) now Profillicollis sphaerocephalis, Pomphorhynchus proteus now a synonym of P. laevis (Mueller, 1776) and Plagiorhynchus formosus now a synonym of P. cylindraceus (Goeze, 1782) (see Van Cleave, 1942) and could perhaps be the case in this instance. Until the identity of this species is resolved it should be relegated to incertae sedis.