Chordodes maculatus Sciacchitano, 1958

Villalobos, C. De, Zanca, F. & Schmidt-Rhaesa, A., 2009, Revision of the genus Chordodes (Gordiida: Nematomorpha) from Africa IV. Ultrastructural redescription of Chordodes congolensis Sciacchitano, 1933, Chordodes ferox Camerano, 1897, Chordodes madagascariensis (Camerano, 1893), Chordodes mobensis Sciacchitano, 1958 and reinterpretation of Chordodes maculatus Sciacchitano, 1958 and Chordodes kakandensis Sciacchitano, 1958, Journal of Natural History 43 (41 - 44), pp. 2579-2595 : 2589-2591

Chordodes maculatus Sciacchitano, 1958

( Figure 6 )

Chordodes maculatus Sciacchitano, 1958, p. 35 , figures 25–29.

Material examined (see comments)

SEM mid-body: Type series: 1♀ ( AMT 16537) , 1♀ ( AMT 28955) , 1♀ ( AMT 25696) , 2♀♀ ( AMT 25856–25857 ) , 1♀ ( AMT 22223) , 1♀ ( AMT 27672) , 2♀♀ ( AMT 28955 (see comments) and 1♀ ( AMT 32428).

Host

Mantis religiosa (AMT 2223; Sciacchitano 1958), indeterminate mantids (AMT 16537; Sciacchitano 1958) and Sibylla gratiosa Rehn, 1912 (AMT 32428; this investigation).

Description

Body colour varies from yellowish brown to very dark brown. Only two females ( AMT 28955 and AMT 25696) have in the anterior end a white cap and a dark calotte. Posterior end rounded .

Cuticle includes simple areoles with varying shapes, oval or rounded, with smooth surface ( Figure 6A ). Bulging areoles appear isolated or in clusters of two or three areoles. Thorn areoles conical, elevated and surrounded by two, three or four basal structures that appear to represent areoles ( Figure 6A, B ). Number of crowned areoles varies from one ( Figure 6C ) to two ( Figure 6A, B ) with a crown of short filaments. In the majority of the specimens investigated, crowned areoles surrounded by 18–23 circumcluster areoles ( Figure 6A ). However, specimens (AMT 25856, AMT 27672 and AMT 32428) have crowned areoles surrounded by 8–10 circumcluster areoles ( Figure 6B ). Along ventral groove another type of crowned areole with very long filaments (up to 146 µm) ( Figure 6D ). Interareolar furrow with scarce tubercles with round apex.

Dimensions

Measurements of the specimens investigated were as follows (length in mm/diameter in mm). Sciacchitano (1958): 267/2, 175/2, 394/1.80, 248/1.75, 146/1, 179/1.7, 150/1.5, 146/1.5, 267/2.5 and 143/1 (this investigation).

Comments

Sciacchitano (1958) described Chordodes maculatus on the basis of six females and two males from different localities. The present reinvestigation by SEM revealed that specimens (AMT 25856 and AMT 28955) that Sciacchitano (1958) interpreted as males are really females. The female specimen (AMT 32428) contains a label “ Chordodes maculatus , det. Sciachitano 1965 col. Deuelle 5/1960, host: Sibylla gratiosa ”, but Sciacchitano never published this record. Sciacchitano (1958), in the original description of C. maculatus , described the cuticle with four areolar types and a thick hook. These features are coincident with simple, bulging, crowned, circumcluster and thorn areoles in the present investigation. However, the same cuticular pattern is present in specimens of Chordodes kolensis ( Zanca, De Villalobos et al. 2006) . Therefore, C. maculatus is regarded as a synonym of Chordodes kolensis . We observed variations in the number of circumcluster areoles in the studied specimens with respect to the holotype ( Zanca, De Villalobos et al. 2006), but we considered that these differences were not sufficient to distinguish a separate species.

Distribution

Sciacchitano, 1958: Democratic Republic of the Congo: Bolobo, lake Leopoldo II (one female), Ubangi, Libenge (one female), Kinshasa (ex Leopoldville) (three females), Ubangi Bokapo (Lisala) (three females), Tshuapa Boende (one female), Yangambi (one female, new record) .

Figures

Figure 6. Chordodes maculatus (type series). (A) General view of the midbody cuticle; (B) higher magnification showing simple, thorn, bulging, crowned and circumcluster areoles; (C) areolar cluster with one crowned areole of the female (AMT 32428); (D) longitudinal furrow of the female with crowned areoles with long filaments. Scale bars: 50 µm (A); 20 µm (B, D), 10 µm (C).