Abstract
During a survey of helminth parasites of the brown ground snake, Atractus major Boulenger, 1894 (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from Moyobamba, region of San Martin (northeastern Peru), a new species of Glossidiella Travassos, 1927 (Plagiorchiida: Plagiorchiidae) was found and is described herein based on morphological and ultrastructural data. The digeneans found in the lung were measured and drawings were made with a drawing tube. The ultrastructure was studied using scanning electron microscope. Glossidiella peruensissp. nov. is easily distinguished from the type- and only species of the genus, Glossidiella ornata Travassos, 1927, by having an oblong cirrus sac (claviform in G. ornata), distinctly ovate testes (rounded testes in G. ornata) and button-like papillae on the dorsal edge of the oral sucker region (absent in G. ornata). In addition, G. peruensissp. nov. differs from G. ornata by possessing a longer distance between testes and substantially wider oral and ventral suckers. This is the first time that a species of digenean is described and reported parasitizing snakes in Peru.
Highlights
Atractus Wagler, 1828 (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) includes nearly 140 species of fossorial colubrids which are widely distributed throughout the Neotropical Region, occurring from Panama to Argentina (Myers 2003, Passos and Fernandes 2008, Arteaga et al 2017)
Detailed morphological analysis based on light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the specimens represent a new species of Glossidiella Travassos, 1927 (Plagiorchiidae), which is described and illustrated
Nine species of digeneans in reptiles have been reported from Peru, namely Helicotrema spirale (Diesing, 1850) Odhner, 1912 (Liolopidae); Podocnemitrema papillosus Alho & Vicente, 1964 (Microscaphidiidae); Halltrema avitellina Lent & Freitas, 1939; Halltrema heteroxenum (Cordero & Vogelsang, 1940) Jones, 2005; Nematophila grandis (Diesing, 1839) Travassos, 1934 (Cladorchiidae); Orchidasma amphiorchis (Braun, 1899) Looss, 1900; Telorchis hagmanni Lent & Freitas, 1937 (Telorchiidae); Adenogaster serialis Looss, 1899; and Cricocephalus albus (Kühl & van Hasselt, 1822) Looss, 1899 (Pronocephalidae), all of which were recovered from aquatic or terrestrial turtles (Tantaleán et al 1992, Tantaleán and Forlong 2013, Fernandes and Kohn 2014, Werneck and Da Silva 2016, Gomez-Puerta et al 2017)
Summary
Atractus Wagler, 1828 (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) includes nearly 140 species of fossorial colubrids which are widely distributed throughout the Neotropical Region, occurring from Panama to Argentina (Myers 2003, Passos and Fernandes 2008, Arteaga et al 2017). The brown ground snake, Atractus major Boulenger, 1894 is a mainly fossorial species, occasionally it is cryptozoic and terrestrial and it, occurs in Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela (Nogueira et al 2016). According to Martins and Oliveira (1999), this species of snake feeds mainly on earthworms, mites as well as small insects. During a survey of helminth parasites of snakes from Moyobamba, region of San Martin (northeastern Peru), some digeneans were recovered from the lungs of A. major.
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