Breinlia (Breinlia) dasyuri (Johnston & Mawson, 1938) Chabaud & Bain, 1976

Spratt, David M., 2011, New records of filarioid nematodes (Nematoda: Filarioidea) parasitic in Australasian monotremes, marsupials and murids, with descriptions of nine new species 2860, Zootaxa 2860 (1), pp. 1-61 : 12-13

Breinlia (Breinlia) dasyuri (Johnston & Mawson, 1938) Chabaud & Bain, 1976

Dipetalonema dasyuri Johnston & Mawson, 1938a, pp. 109–111 , figs. 1–7, ( Dasyurus viverrinus ) Victoria; Mackerras 1962 pp 422–423, fig. 29 ( Dasyurus viverrinus (syn. Dasyurus quoll ), Dasyurus maculatus (as Dasyurops maculatus ); Spratt & Varughese 1975, pp.45–48, figs. 73–85.

Breinlia dasyuri (Johnston & Mawson) Yeh, 1957, p. 201 .

Breinlia (Breinlia) dasyuri (Johnston & Mawson) Chabaud & Bain, 1976, p. 377 ; Spratt et al. 1991, pp. 19, 20, 68.

Type host. Dasyurus viverrinus (Shaw) (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae ).

Other hosts. Dasyurus geoffroii Gould , Dasyurus maculatus (Kerr) .

Site in host. Peritoneal cavity.

Other material examined. From Dasyurus geoffroii: WA : 16♂, 28♀, ( N5332 ) Collie .

Distribution and hosts. Breinlia (B.) dasyuri is known only from a single animal from each of three species of quoll in three States, a Dasyurus viverrinus from an unknown locality in Victoria, a D. maculatus from Glen Davis in northern New South Wales and recently, 2004, from a D. geoffroii from Collie in southern Western Australia. The species has not been seen in the other quoll species, the little northern quoll, Dasyurus hallucatus Gould , despite post mortem examination of a number of animals ( Oakwood & Spratt, 2000).

Remarks. Breinlia (B.) dasyuri is most similar to B. (B.) dentonensis from the subcutaneous connective tissues of macropodids and B. (B.) bigenera from the peritoneal cavity of potoroids and macropodids. The three species are readily distinguished from all other species of Breinlia (Breinlia) in hosts in Australia by the clustering of cloaca papillae around the cloaca of the male and by the short, non-filamentous tail of the microfilaria with a characteristic kink. Breinlia (B.) dasyuri is distinguished from B. (B.) dentonensis by the proportionally shorter glandular oesophagus, the position of the vulva well posterior to the oesophago-intestinal junction, shorter spicules and the presence of small caudal alae. It is distinguished from B. (B.) bigenera by the much greater lengths of males and females, longer spicules and the presence of refractile cuticular bosses in both sexes.