Wheeler T A, Roberts M, Beverley-Burton M, Sutton D G
Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
J Parasitol. 1989 Oct;75(5):680-4.
Brachylaima apoplania n. sp. is described from the small intestine of the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans) on Tiritiri Matangi Island, New Zealand. The new species is most similar to Brachylaima ratti Baugh, 1962, from Rattus rattus. The two species differ only in morphometric characters, B. apoplania possessing significantly smaller suckers, pharynx, testes, ovary, and cirrus sac. The close resemblance between B. apoplania and B. ratti, the close relationship between their hosts, and archaeological evidence on the origin and early dispersal of R. exulans are used to hypothesize a common Southeast Asian origin for the 2 Brachylaima species. Brachylaima apoplania is believed to have dispersed subsequently throughout the South Pacific islands, along with its rodent host, in the canoes of the ancestors of the modern Polynesians and Maoris.
短盘吸虫属新种——阿波波拉短盘吸虫（Brachylaima apoplania n. sp.）是从新西兰蒂里蒂里·马唐伊岛的波利尼西亚鼠（Rattus exulans）的小肠中发现并描述的。该新物种与1962年鲍从黑家鼠（Rattus rattus）体内发现的拉氏短盘吸虫（Brachylaima ratti）最为相似。这两个物种仅在形态测量特征上有所不同，阿波波拉短盘吸虫的吸盘、咽、睾丸、卵巢和阴茎囊明显更小。基于阿波波拉短盘吸虫与拉氏短盘吸虫的相似性、它们宿主之间的密切关系以及关于波利尼西亚鼠起源和早期扩散的考古证据，推测这两种短盘吸虫起源于东南亚。阿波波拉短盘吸虫被认为随后与其啮齿动物宿主一起，乘坐现代波利尼西亚人和毛利人祖先的独木舟，扩散到了整个南太平洋岛屿。
