Athesmia (Trematoda: Dicrocoeliidae) Odhner, 1911 Liver Fluke of Monkeys from Colombia, South America, and Other Mammalian Hosts

Abstract

In addition to earlier reports of Athesmia foxi Goldberger & Crane, 1911, the writer has studied well-fixed, stained and mounted specimens of this dicrocoeliine trematode from five different species of monkeys from eastern Colombia, viz., Saimiri sciurea (Linn., 1758), Cebus capucinus (Linn., 1758), C. albifrons (Humboldt, 1912), C. apella (Linn., 1758) and Oedipomidas oedipus (Linn., 1758). The worms vary in length and breadth, not only in different host species but also in different speci- mens from the same host. Study of internal anatomy likewise indicates that consider- able variation exists in essential organs, including male and female genitalia. The writer agrees with Travassos (1944) that a liver fluke from a Cuban bat, Artibeus jamaicensis parvipes, designated A. parkeri (Perez Vigueras, 1942) should be trans- ferred to Travassos' 1942 genus Pseudathesmia, and may possibly be the same as his type species P. paradoxa. Comparison of the Colombian specimens of A. foxi with those from the liver of Malaysian feral rats, Rattus argentiventer Robinson & Kloss, confirms the view of Lee (1965) that the species is present in a new mammalian host in a geographically different area. A. foxi has also been recovered from a crab-eating raccoon, Procyon cancrivorus Cuvier, and a monkey, Chiropotes albinasa Geoffroy & Deville from separate states of Brazil (Teixeira de Freitas, 1962). Comparative life cycle investigations are required before A. heterolecithodes (Braun, 1899) Looss, 1899, with wide geographical and host distribution in birds, is proved to be identical with A. foxi of mammalian hosts, in which case the name A. heterolecithodes would take precedence over A. foxi.