Junker Kerstin, Mutafchiev Yasen
Parasites, Vectors and Vector-borne Diseases, ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Private Bag X05, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa.
Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Street, Sofia, 1113, Bulgaria.
Syst Parasitol. 2017 Nov;94(9):971-978. doi: 10.1007/s11230-017-9757-x. Epub 2017 Oct 12.
Based on light and scanning electron microscopical observations, Typhlophoros kwenae n. sp. (Heterocheilidae), a new nematode parasite, is described from the stomach of the Nile crocodile Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti in South Africa. In having three lips with well-developed posterior prolongations and prominent interlabial longitudinal cuticular ridges, four pairs of precloacal papillae and complex spicules divided into handle and broad alate blade in males, as well as the position of the vulva near mid-body in females, the specimens conform to the generic diagnosis of Typhlophoros von Linstow, 1906. They can, however, be distinguished from the two previously described congeners, T. lamellaris von Linstow, 1906 and T. spratti Sprent, 1999, by the number of complete interlabial ridges, the length of spicules in males and the position of the vulva as well as the length of the tail in females. This is the first record of the genus Typhlophoros from the Afrotropical Realm.