Strianema venezuelensisgen. et sp. n. (Filarioidea : Onchocercidae) from Venezuelan armadillos (Dasypusspp.)

Abstract

A new filaria, Strianema venezuelensis gen. et sp. n., is described from armadillos in Venezuela. The adults inhabit the subcutaneous tissues and the microfilariae are found in the skin and occasionally the blood. The adults, which are of small size (males 9.6 to 13.8 mm in length by 57 to 63 microns in diameter, females 18.3 to 26.3 mm in length by 95 to 120 microns in diameter), have a distinctly striated cuticle. This filaria resembles most closely the genus Cercopithifilaria, from which it can be distinguished by the absence of a buccal capsule or pre-esophageal ring, and 11 to 13 pair of caudal papillae, three or four pair of which are separated as a group anterior to the cloaca. The species, S. venezuelensis, can be distinguished from the three other species of filariae described from armadillos by the undivided esophagus, number and distribution of caudal papillae in the male, size and shape of the spicules, and the distinctive microfilaria. The microfilaria, which averages 280 microns in length, has a unique, slender, almost filamentous tail.