Three new species of Cosmocerca Diesing, 1861 (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) parasitising frogs Cacosternum boettgeri Boulenger, 1882, Kassina senegalensis Dumeril and Bibron, 1841 and Phrynomantis bifasciatus Smith, 1847 from South Africa.

F Harnoster,R Svitin,L H Du Preez

doi:10.1007/s00436-021-07390-7

F Harnoster, R Svitin + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07390-7

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Abstract

Cosmocercid nematodes have been documented with much criticism due to the numerous inaccurate descriptions, redescriptions and synonymisation of found species. This is due to indistinguishable characters of females and the lack of male specimens found. Consequently, the species C. ornata is the most commonly found species worldwide and the only species of the genus reported in South Africa. In the present study, we found Cosmocerca in three different amphibian species, namely Cacosternum boettgeri, Kassina senegalensis and Phrynomantis bifasciatus. Based on differences in the shape of the gubernaculum and number of papillae, the found nematodes were assigned to three new species namely C. daly n. sp., C. monicae n. sp. and C. makhadoensis n. sp. Descriptions of species are followed by pairwise and phylogenetic analysis of partial ITS-28S sequences. All three species were found only in their host types from distant localities. Therefore, we hypothesise that host specificity of Cosmocerca from South African amphibians might be rather high and that the presence of C. ornata throughout South Africa is rather doubtful.

Highlights

Nematodes of the family Cosmocercidae are one of the most abundant groups of nematodes that parasitise the digestive tract of cold-blooded vertebrates worldwide
The only specific study on cosmocercids in southern Africa was done by Baker (1981), based on material collected from several amphibian species in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia
There are no records for species of Cosmocerca from the Afrotropical region in the list compiled by Bursey et al (2015), C. ornata has previously been recorded in South Africa (Baker 1981; Halajian et al 2013)

Summary

Introduction

Nematodes of the family Cosmocercidae are one of the most abundant groups of nematodes that parasitise the digestive tract of cold-blooded vertebrates worldwide. They have a high biodiversity and are distinguished generally by the morphology of the male genital system There are three subfamilies: Austraplectaninae, parasitising amphibians in Australia; Maxvachoniae, parasitising amphibians in Australo-Papuan Region (Bursey et al 2011); and Cosmocercinae, reported from amphibians and rarely reptilians worldwide. Of the subfamily Cosmocercinae, the most abundant genera are Aplectana Railliet and Henry, 1916 and Cosmocerca Diesing, 1861(Baker 1987). The author identified Aplectana chamaeleonis Baylis, 1929 from Sclerophrys capensis (Tschudi, 1838) (reported as Bufo rangeri), Vandijkophrynus angusticeps (Smith, 1848) (reported as Bufo angusticeps), Amietia delalandii (Duméril and Bibron, 1841) (reported as Rana angolensis), Ptychadena oxyrhynchus (Smith, 1849) and Cacosternum capense Hewitt, 1925; A. macintoshii Stewart, 1914 from Schismaderma carens (Smith, 1848) (reported as Bufo carens), Sclerophrys gutturalis (Power, 1927)

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