Rodentolepis fraterna (Stiles, 1906)

Beveridge, Ian & Smales, Lesley R., 2017, Cestode Parasites (Platyhelminthes) of Rodents from New Guinea and Adjacent Islands with a Redescription of Paroniella blanchardi (Parona, 1897) (Davaineidae), Records of the Australian Museum (Rec. Aust. Mus.) 69 (6), pp. 451-460 : 452-453

Rodentolepis fraterna (Stiles, 1906)

Material examined. From Paramelomys rubex (Thomas, 1922) (mountain paramelomys): Ofekama, Telefomin , West Sepik Province, 5°08'S 141°38'E ( W48772 ) .

Remarks. Only a single specimen of this common parasite Of rOdEnts Was idEntifiEd. ThE nOmEnclaturE fOr thE spEcific name used here follows the principal text in Baer & Tenora (1970), although it appears from footnotes in the paper (p. 27) that the two authors disagreed on its taxonomic status, Aru Islands), only a single locality is shown. A single collection from the Moluccas is not shown on the

currEnt figurE. COllEctiOn lOcalitiEs arE indictEd by numErals: 1, SEram; 2, MOkWam; 3, SupiOri Island;

4, Kei Basar; 5, Wokan Island, Aru Islands; 6, Mount Somoro; 7, Yapsiei; 8, Star Mountains; 9, Tifalin;

10, Hindenburg Wall; 11, Ofekaman-Telefonin; 12, Ok Tedi; 13, Lake Katubu; 14, Mount Missim; 15,

Fulleborn; 16, Aguan; 17, Munimum; 18, Goodenough Island; 19, Fergusson Island; 20, Normanby Island.

Baer preferring nana . The same species is frequently reported under the name Hymenolepis fraterna (as in Baer & Tenora, 1970) and it may or may not be a synonym of R. nana , a common parasite of humans ( Haukisalmi et al., 2010). Some evidence exists from experimental and molecular studies that the rodent and human parasites are genetically and biologically distinct ( Macnish et al., 2002a,b), but the evidence is not conclusive. Rodentolepis nana (as Hymenolepis nana ) has been reported as a zoonosis in Papua New Guinea ( Owen, 2005). Paramelomys rubex is a new host for this species of cestode.