Further observations of blunt-hooked raillietiellids (Pentastomida: Cephalobaenida) from lizards with descriptions of three new species

Abstract

Our earlier revisions of the taxonomy of blunt-hooked raillietiellid pentastomids infecting small lizards recognized six, mostly well characterized, species. Three of these,Raillietiella mabuiae, R. maculatus andR. hemidactyli, are re-examined in this study: an additional diagnostic character, the form of the male copulatory spicule, confirms the status of these species. Another, morphologically very similar species,Travassostulida freitasi from a South American skink, was ascribed to a new genusTravassostulida by Motta & Gomes (1968). We show that there is no justification for this separation and the species is renamedR. freitasi n. comb. Other South and Central American blunt-hooked species from geckos are indistinguishable from certain African and South East Asian forms—these may be new species but because their hosts have been disseminated through commerce we have left them unnamed: more specimens are required before their status can be confirmed. Three new species are described;R. scincoides infects an Australian skink,R. monarchus infects a South East Asian gecko andR. maculilabris comes from an African skink. Appropriate combinations of hook size, annulus number and the form of the male copulatory spicule form the principal diagnostic criteria by which these species can be recognized. The taxon now embraces ten species of blunt-hooked raillietiellids and is the second largest within the genusRaillietiella. ac]19830325