Pence D B, Cole R A
Department of Pathology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock 79430, USA.
J Med Entomol. 1995 May;32(3):394-6. doi: 10.1093/jmedent/32.3.394.
Thalassornectes (Alcidectes) aukletae, originally described from two species of auklets (Charadriiformes: Alcidae) from maritime eastern Russia, is reported from a third species of pelagic charadriiform (Stercorariidae), the pomarine jaeger, Stercorarius pomarinus (Temminck), from Florida. The specimens from the jaeger are slightly smaller, the genital apodeme is more heavily sclerotized, paired setae gm are twice as long and there are other minor variations in the idiosomal and leg chaetotaxy. These differences are not considered sufficient to warrant taxonomic separation at the species or subspecies level from the nominate species T. (A.) aukletae. The same hypopus occurring across different families of birds is unusual in the Hypoderatidae. The diversity in hosts from several orders of birds, low intensities of infection in the two species from Africa, low prevalences in alcids from Russia, and rarity of these hypoderatids in all surveyed hosts leads us to speculate that the true host affinities of species in the genus Thalassornectes are unknown. The alternative consideration is that these are simply uncommon species that are very host specific.
海栖甲螨（Alcidectes）奥氏海栖甲螨最初是根据俄罗斯东部海域的两种海雀（鸻形目：海雀科）描述的，现报道于来自佛罗里达州的第三种远洋鸻形目鸟类（贼鸥科）——矛隼，矛隼（Temminck）。来自矛隼的标本略小，生殖突片的硬化程度更高，成对的刚毛gm长度是原来的两倍，在体躯和腿部的毛序上还有其他细微差异。这些差异被认为不足以在物种或亚种水平上与指名物种T.（A.）奥氏海栖甲螨进行分类区分。在甲螨科中，同一种若螨寄生于不同鸟类科的情况并不常见。来自几个鸟类目的宿主多样性、非洲两种鸟类的低感染强度、俄罗斯海雀科鸟类的低患病率以及在所有调查宿主中这些甲螨的罕见性，使我们推测海栖甲螨属物种的真正宿主亲缘关系尚不清楚。另一种考虑是，这些只是非常罕见且宿主特异性很强的物种。
