Haemoproteus alcippae, Paperna & Keong & May, 2008

Paperna, Ilan, Keong, Malcolm Soh Chu & May, Charlotte Yap Aye, 2008, Haemosporozoan Parasites Found In Birds In Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sarawak And Java, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 56 (2), pp. 211-243 : 215

Haemoproteus alcippae , new species

( Fig. 5 ) (Table 1)

Locality. – Malaysia: Fraser’s Hill, through 2002 and 2003.

Material examined. – Thirty-one birds were examined from Aug. to Dec.2002 and 39 more from Mar. to Aug.2003 from Fraser’s Hill and Cameron Highlands in Peninsular Malaysia. All the infected birds were from Fraser’s Hill : 28 out of 42 (67%); none of the 39 examined birds from Cameron Highlands were found to be infected. Infection was found in birds caught during May, Jul., Aug., Oct. and Nov. Infection intensity was variable but frequently high, up to 2–3% parasitaemia (for quantitative details see Paperna et al., 2005)

Description. – The infected erythrocyte is somewhat elongate, with gametocytes that are slender and barely to moderately displace the erythrocyte nucleus, only slightly bending over the edges of the erythrocyte nucleus and not reaching the erythrocytes’ lateral or distal ends. Both gametocytes are moderately pigmented, but in some birds the detected gametocytes contain more numerous larger grains, which sometimes assemble into a line. The macrogametocyte nucleus is off-center, sometimes big enough to adjoin both the host nucleus and the parasite’s outer membrane. The cytoplasm stains pale blue. In many microgametocytes, the nucleus is indistinguishable from the reddish cytoplasm, although sometimes it can be seen as an elongate ribbon extending along half or two-thirds of the gametocyte. In only one instance, a gametocyte (a microgametocyte) produced wall extensions.

Etymology. – Named after the generic name of the parasite’s host.

Remarks. – Haemoproteus alcippe gametocytes are slender and do not fill the entire volume of the erythrocyte up to its distal tips, as do the robust species infecting the Sylviidae (Hae. belopolski Valkiunas, 1989, and Hae. wenyoni ) and Timalliidae (Hae. timalli), which fill the erythrocyte and embrace a good part, or the entirety, of the erythrocyte nucleus. Gametocytes of Hae. aegithinae , which infect Aeg. tiphae in Southeast Asia, extend throughout the length of the erythrocyte, but leave lateral spaces when not gravid. Haemoproteus fallisi Bennett & Campbell, 1972 , Hae. minutus Valkiunas & Iezhova, 1992 , and Hae. copsychi which, like Hae. alcippae are shorter than the erythrocyte, only slightly embrace the erythrocyte nucleus or end bluntly. Haemoproteus fallisi and H. minutus fill the space between the erythrocyte nucleus and its outer border, while Hae. copsychi like Hae. alcippae do not reach the lateral rims of the erythrocyte. Haemoproteus fallisi and Hae. copsychi displace the erythrocyte nucleus conspicuously, H. alcippae moderately or slightly, while Hae. fallisi , Hae. minutus and Hae. aegithinae barely displace the erythrocyte nucleus. Wall projections found in all the abovementioned species were absent or exceptional in Hae. alcippae and Hae. copsychi . Haemoproteus copsychi also differs from Hae. alcippae in having the macrogametocyte nucleus in a median position, which is distal in the latter.

Figures

Fig. 5. Haemoproteus alcippe from Alcippe peracensis, Malaysia (from left: two macrogametocytes and microgametocyte).