A new species of Aplectana Railliet Henry (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) br /in Amphisbaena alba Linnaeus (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae) from Minas Gerais State, Brazil.

Abstract

In the present study, we described and illustrated Aplectana minaensis n. sp. (Ascaridida: Cosmocercidae) from the intestinal caecum of Amphisbaena alba Linnaeus (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae). Aplectana minaensis n. sp. is the 5th species described in Brazilian hosts and 58th species assigned to the genus. This species differs from its congeners by a set of unique characters in males: the presence of one unpaired precloacal papilla and gubernaculum, the papillae pattern (4+1:2:6) and total number (12+1), and the size of spicules (400-605 µm). Among the Aplectana species with an unpaired precloacal papilla and gubernaculum, only A. minaensis n. sp. and A. nebulosa Gomez, González Sanabria, has less than 20 pairs of caudal papillae. However, these species differ in the number of caudal papillae in males (12+1 vs. 13-14+1, respectively); the number and arrangement of post cloacal papillae (6 pairs: 1st to 4th pairs ventral, 5th pair laterodorsal, 6th pairventral vs. five pairs: 1st and 2nd ventral, 3rd lateral, 4th ventral, 5th lateral); and by the size of spicules (413-600 vs. 85-126 µm).