Abstract
A total of 67 specimens from the National History Museum, London, UK and from the United States National ParasiteCollection, Beltsville, USA, which had previously been identified as Mesocoelium monas Rudolphi, 1819 from a varietyof definitive hosts (amphibians, reptiles and a fish), were reevaluated using available literature and the keys to nine bodytypes of species developed by Dronen et al. (2012). Fifteen specimens were of insufficient quality to be placed into a bodytype. In the remaining 52, only four body types (mesembrinum, monas, lanceatum, and pesteri) were encountered. Noneof the 52 specimens conformed to either the original description of M. monas by Rudolphi in 1819 or the subsequent re-description by Freitas in 1958. Although some authors have proposed sweeping synonymies of species in the genus re-ducing the number of species to as few as four in a study by Nasir & Dìaz in 1971, the results of the present study suggestthat there are likely numerous species worldwide. The usefulness of some characters in separating species of Mesocoelium is discussed.References
Bursey, C.R., Goldberg, S.R., & Parmelle, J.R. (2001) Gastrointestinal helminths of 51 species of anurans from Reserva Cuzco Amazónica, Peru. Comparative Parasitology, 68, 21–35.
Bursey, C.R., Goldberg, S.R., & Parmelle, J.R. (2007) Gastrointestinal helminths of 14 species of lizards from Panama with descriptions of five new species. Comparative Parasitology, 74, 108–140.
Criscione, C.D. & Font, W.F. (2001) The guest playing host: colonization of the introduced Mediterranean gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus, by helminth parasites in southeast Louisiana. Journal of Parasitology, 87, 1273–1278.
Dollfus, R.P. (1929) Helmintha I. Trematoda et Acanthocephala. Faune des Colonies Franaises, 3, 74–114.
Dollfus, R.P. (1933) Le point d’aboutissement des canaux collecteurs la vessie chez les distomes: son importance au point de vue systématique. Annales de Parasitologie Humaine et Comparée, 9, 483–484.
Dollfus, R.P. (1950) Miscellanea helminthologica marocana I. Quelques trematodes, cestodes et acanthocephales. Archives Institut Pasteur du Maroc (Casablanca), 4, 104–229.
Dronen, N.O., Calhoun, D.M. & Simcik, S.R. (2012) Mesocoelium Odhner, 1901 (Digenea: Mesocoelidae) revisited; a revision of the family and re-evaluation of species composition in the genus. Zootaxa, 3387, 1–96.
Fernando, W. (1933) Contributions to Ceylon helminthology 3. Mesocoelium burti, sp. nov., Mesocoelium marrsi sp. nov., and Haplorchis pearsoni, sp. nov. Ceylon Journal of Science, 28, 9–18.
Freitas, J.F.T. (1958) Breve nota sobre o Distoma monas Rudolphi, 1819 (Trematoda). Revista Brasileria de Biologia, 18, 1771–174.
Freitas, J.F.T. (1963) Revisão de família Mesocoeliidae Dollfus, 1933 (Trematoda). Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 6, 177–174.
Goldberg, S.R. & Bursey, C.R. (2008) Helminths from 15 species of frogs (Anura, Hylidae) from Costa Rica. Phyllomedusa, 7, 25–33.
Goldberg, S.R., Bursey, C.R. & Tawil, R. (1995) Gastrointestinal helminths of three introduced species of anoles: Anolis bimaculatus leachi, Anolis grahami and Anolis roquet (Polychridae) from Bermuda. Journal of the Helminthological Society of Washington, 62, 62–64.
Goldberg, S.R., Bursey, C.R. & Cheam, H. (1998) Helminths of six species of Anolis lizards (Polychrotidae) from Hispaniola, West Indies. Journal of Parasitology, 84, 1291–1295.
Goldberg, S.R., Bursey, C.R. & Fisher, R.N. (2005) Helminth records of eleven species of Emoia (Sauria: Scincidae) from Hispaniola, West Indies. Journal of Parasitology, 84, 1291–1295.
Goldberg. S.R., Bursey, C.R., & Kraus, F. (2009) Endoparasites in 12 species of Sphenomorphus (Squamata: Scincidae) from Papua New Guinea. Comparative Parasitology, 76, 58–83.
Goto, S. & Ozaki, Y. (1930) Brief notes on new trematodes. III. Japanese Journal of Zoology, 2, 213–217.
Guillen-Hernández, S., Salgado-Maldonado, G. & Lamonthe-Argumendo (2000) Digeneans (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda) of seven sympatric species of anurans from Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico Studies of Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 35, 10–13.
Hoffman, W.A. (1935) Mesocoelium danforthi, n. sp. (Dicrocoeliidea), from a lizard, Celestus pleii, in Puerto Rico. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington, 2, 64.
Ingles, L. (1936) Worm Parasites of California Amphibia. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society, 55, 73–92.
Johnston, S.J. (1912) On some trematode-parasites of Australian frogs. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 37, 285–362.
Kumari, M. & Verma, U.P. (1992) A new trematode Mesocoelium asymmetrovitellarius from the intestine of Bufo melanostictus from Sonepur (Saran). Indian Journal of Helminthology, 44, 143–145.
Linzey, D.W., Bursey, C.R., & Linzey, J.B. (1998) Seasonal occurrence of helminths of the giant toad, Bufo marinus (Amphibia: Bufonidae), in Bermuda. Journal of the Helminthological Society of Washington, 65, 251–258.
Lühe, M.F.L. (1901) Zwei neue Distomen aus indischen Anuren. Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie und Parasitenkunde, 30, 166–177.
Meader, A.M., Combes, C. & Knoepffler, L.P. (1969) Parasites d’Amphibiens du Gabon: Mesocoeliidae (Digenea). Taxonomie et Chronologie du Genre Mesocoelium Odhner, 1911. Biologia Gabonica, 5, 289–303.
Meader, A.M., Combes, C. & Knoepffler, L.P. (1970) Parasites d’Amphibiens de République Centrafricaine: Plagiorchiidae et Mesocoeliidae (Digenea). Biologia Gabonica, 6, 395–402.
Mettrick, D.F. & Dunkley, L.C. (1968) Observations on the occurrence, growth, and morphological variation of the trematode, Mesocoelium danforthi Hoffman, 1935, in Jamaica. Caribbean Journal of Science, 8, 71–94.
Nasir, P. & Díaz, M.T. (1971) A redescription of Mesocoelium monas (Rudolphi, 1819)
Freitas, (1958) and specific determination in genus Mesocoelium Odhner 1910 (Trematoda, Dignea). Rivista di Parasitologia, 32, 149–158.
Odhner, T. (1910) Nordostafrikanische Trematoden, grösstenteils vom Weissen Nil. I. Fascioliden. Results of the Swedish Zoological Expedition of Egypt and the White Nile 1901 under the direction of L. A. Jägerkiöld, 23A, 1–170.
Ozaki, Y. (1936) Two new trematodes from tortoise Geoemyda spengleri (Gmelin). Journal of Science of the Hiroshima University Series B Division 1 Zoology, 4, 81–90.
Pereira, C. & Cuocolo, R. (1940) Trematoides brasileiros do genero Mesocoelium Odhner. Arquivos do Instituto Biologico, 11, 399–412.
Pérez Vigueras, I. (1942) Notas helmintologicas. Revista Universidad de la Habana, (40–42), 193–223.
Pojmańska, T. (2008) Family Mesocoeliidae Dollfus, 1929. In Keys to the Trematoda Vol. 3. Bray, R. A., Gibson, D. I. & Jones, A. (eds.). CABI Publishing and The Natural History Museum, London, UK., pp. 261–263.
Rudolphi, C. (1819) Entozoorum Synopsis, Cui Accedunt Mantissa Duplex and Indices Locupletissimi. Augusti Rücker, Berlin, 811 pp.
Ruiz, J.M. & Leão, A.T. (1943) Notas helmintologicas Mesocoelium sibynomorphi n. sp. (Trematoda, Dicrocoeliidae). Revista Brasileira de biologia, 2, 145–148.
Ubelaker, J.E. (1966) Additional records of parasites of caecilians (Amphibia: Apoda). Journal of Parasitology, 52, 431.
Yamaguti, S. (1971) Synopsis of digenetic trematodes of veterbrates. Vol.1. Tokyo: Keigaku Publishing Company, 1074 pp.
Yuen, P.H. (1965) Studies on four species of the genus Mesocoelium (Trematoda: Brachycoelidae) of Amphibia. Zoologischer Anzeiger. Leipzig, 174, 266–275.
Zamparo, D., Brooks, D.R. & Causey, D. (2003) Tinamutrema canoae n. gen. et n. sp. (Trematoda: Digenea: Strigeiformes: Brachylaimidae) in Crypturellus cinnamomeus (Aves, Passeriformes, Tinamidae) from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Journal of Parasitology, 89, 819–22.