Abstract
Hassalstrongylus dollfusi (Díaz-Ungría, 1963) Durette-Desset, 1971 was described in a wild house mouse, Mus musculus, from Venezuela and, since then, has never been reported again in the type host or in any other host. In this work, specimens assignable to H. dollfusi were found at 10 localities in Northeast Argentina, in five species of sigmodontine rodents. The nematodes were attributed to H. dollfusi based on diagnostic characters such as: synlophe with 22–31 subequal ridges; in males, hypertrophy of right ray 4 of the male bursa, thickening of the dorsal ray and bases of rays 8, distal tip of the spicules bent and spoon shaped; and, in females, presence of subventral postvulvar alae supported by hypertrophied struts. The new host recorded are: Oligoryzomys fornesi, O. flavescens, O. nigripes, Holochilus chacarius and Akodon azarae. The parasite showed a strong preference for host species of Oligoryzomys, which appear to act as primary hosts. The parasite could be present, parasitizing different species of Oligoryzomys, in a geographic area from the type locality in Venezuela southward to north Corrientes in Argentina. It has not been reported from populations of Oligoryzomys spp. of the Argentinean and Brazilian Atlantic Forest, nor south of 28° S, which may be explained by constraints in the environmental conditions required by the free-living stages of the parasite. This study provides the first identification and redescription of H. dollfusi in southern South America, from autochthonous hosts, six decades after its description.
Highlights
The Heligmonellidae are the most speciose family of the Trichostrongylina (Strongylida or bursate nematodes)
In the Americas, nippostrongylines are parasitic in the Cricetidae (Muroidea), which are represented by four subfamilies: the Arvicolinae, the Neotominae and Tylomyinae (North or Middle American lineages); and the highly diverse Sigmodontinae [36]
We report the finding of H. dollfusi in five species of sigmodontine hosts in 10 different localities of Northeast Argentina, providing a complete morphological description and enlarging the range of morphometrical data on this species
Summary
The Heligmonellidae are the most speciose family of the Trichostrongylina (Strongylida or bursate nematodes). Heligmonellids are distributed worldwide and are overwhelmingly parasites of rodents Among the five subfamilies of heligmonellids, the Nippostrongylinae include the largest number of species 230); nippostrongylines are widespread all over the world and occur mainly in the superfamily Muroidea, frequently with more than one species per host [22]. In the Americas, nippostrongylines are parasitic in the Cricetidae (Muroidea), which are represented by four subfamilies: the Arvicolinae (with Holarctic distribution), the Neotominae and Tylomyinae (North or Middle American lineages); and the highly diverse Sigmodontinae (autochthonous to South America) [36]. Less than 10% of these host species (ca. 60) have been investigated for nippostrongylines, which are known to be a highly diverse group [13]
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