Ophiotaenia bonneti sp. n. (Eucestoda: Proteocephalidea), a parasite of Rana vaillanti (Anura: Ranidae) in Costa Rica

Abstract

Ophiotaenia bonneti sp. n. is described from the intestine of the frog Rana vaillanti Brocchi, 1877 (Anura: Ranidae) from San Gerardo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The new species is characterized by the testes 100-177 in number, the genital pores situated anteriorly, the osmoregulatory canals overlapping the testis field, the cirrus pouch length as 15-24% of proglottis width, and the uterus with 18-32 ramified diverticula on each side. It differs from the 23 known species of the genus Ophiotaenia La Rue, 1911, parasitic in amphibians, by one to several morphological characters. It differs from O. gracilis Jones, Cheng et Gillespie, 1958, the most morphologically similar species, in the sucker diameter in % of scolex diameter and in the morphology of the eggs - funnel-like depression and embryophore closely investing the oncosphere in O. gracilis. We generally observe a very low mean prevalence of the Proteocephalidea in Neotropical amphibians (about 0.41%-3%), but in the case of some host species, the prevalence can reach up to 25%. We conclude that these cestodes exhibit a strict host specificity of the oioxene type. Ophiotaenia junglensis Srivastava et Capoor, 1980 is considered a species inquirenda. Batrachotaenia hernandezi (Flores-Barroeta, 1955) becomes Ophiotaenia hernandezi (Flores-Barroeta, 1955) comb. n., B. tigrina (Woodland, 1925) becomes O. tigrina (Woodland, 1925) comb. n. and B. ceratophryos (Parodi et Widakowich, 1916) becomes O. ceratophryos (Parodi et Widakowich, 1916) comb. n.