Pterygodermatites(Pterygodermatites)mexicanan. sp. (Nematoda: Rictulariidae), a parasite ofBalantiopteryx plicata(Chiroptera) in Mexico

Juan Manuel Caspeta-Mandujano,José Antonio Guerrero,Francisco Agustín Jiménez,Jorge Luis Peralta-Rodríguez

doi:10.1051/parasite/2013047

Abstract

A new species of nematode, Pterygodermatites (Pterygodermatites) mexicana n. sp., is described based on specimens recovered from the intestine of the gray sac-winged bat, Balantiopteryx plicata (Chiroptera, Emballonuridae), from the Biosphere Reserve “Sierra de Huautla” in the state of Morelos, Mexico. This is the second species in the genus described from bats in the New World, since most of the rictaluriids reported in these hosts belong to the closely related genus Rictularia Froelich, 1802. However, members of Rictularia possess only a single oesophageal tooth at the base of the buccal capsule, whereas in the current nematodes three conspicuous oesophageal teeth are present. They are therefore included in Pterygodermatites Wedl, 1861. The new species is characterized by the presence of 23 small denticles on the periphery of the buccal capsule and by the presence of 40 and 66 pairs of cuticular processes in males and females, respectively. Additionally, males possess 3–4 ventral precloacal fan-like processes, and the cuticular processes of females are divided into 40 pairs of comb-like and 26 pairs of spine-like processes; the vulva opens on the level of approximately pair 40. The dorsally directed stoma and the 40 prevulvar cuticular processes makes it difficult to place the species in any of the subgenera present in the New World, yet characters correspond with the diagnosis of Pterygodermatites (Pterygodermatites) in the Mediterranean region and North Africa.

Highlights

Most species of rictulariid nematodes (Spirurida) occur in rodents and carnivorous mammals, with relatively few species infecting bats [9]
During an investigation of helminth parasites of bats in Mexico, carried out by the research team of the Laboratorio de Parasitologıa de Animales Silvestres, 26 nematodes of the genus Pterygodermatites were recovered from the intestines of the gray sac-winged bat, Balantiopteryx plicata Peters, 1867 (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae)
The gray sac-winged bat serves as host for both P. (P.) mexicana and Rictularia nana, and both species have been described based on material collected in localities in the Central Neovolcanic Axis separated by some 60 km

Summary

Introduction

Most species of rictulariid nematodes (Spirurida) occur in rodents and carnivorous mammals, with relatively few species infecting bats [9]. Characters used in the taxonomy of the group include the number of cuticular subventral processes on the worms, as well as the position of the vulva relative to these processes, the arrangement of caudal papillae and the orientation of the stoma [9]. Species traditionally included in Pterygodermatites Wedl, 1861 are characterized by a dorsally displaced stoma, armed with three oesophageal teeth, and by possessing between 29 and 60 pairs of prevulvar spines [5, 8, 9]. Only three species of Pterygodermatites and seven species of Rictularia Froelich, 1802 have been described from bats. A detailed morphological analysis of this material revealed the presence of a new species, which is described below

Materials and methods

Discussion