Nippostrongylinae species 2

Smales, L. R., 2016, The gastrointestinal helminths of Rattus niobe (Rodentia: Muridae) with descriptions of two new genera and three new species (Nematoda) from Papua New Guinea and Papua Indonesia, Zootaxa 4117 (2), pp. 183-197 : 193

Nippostrongylinae species 2

( Figs 40–43 )

One male, 2 anterior ends male, 5 females from 2 individuals of R. niobe , collected from Gouyou Ravine, 9° 90´S 149° 38´E, and Dumae Creek, 9° 90´S 149° 33´E Aguan area, Milne Bay Province, 6. iii. 1985, coll. A. Engelis Jnr, BBM NG 109274C, 109277B.

Very small fragile worms loosely coiled. Synlophe at mid body of male 9 ridges; ridges 4, 5 largest dorsally, ridge 1´largest ventrally. Male: 1.3 mm long, 20, 35 wide. Cephalic vesicle 35 long, oesophagus 290 long; nerve ring and deirids not seen, excretory pore 149 from anterior end. Bursa dissymmetrical, right lobe larger; spicules 83 long. Female: 1.4–1.6 (1.5) mm long, 29.0–30.0 (29.5) wide, cephalic vesicle 25.0–33.0 (30.3) long; oesophagus 257-310 (279) long, excretory pore 150 from anterior end. Posterior end reflected ventrally, without praepuce, vulva 73.0–110.0 (91.5) from tail tip; ovejector with vagina about 20, vestibule 30, sphincter 20, infundibulum 30 long; tail conical with pointed tip 25–32 long; uterus with 2–3 smooth shelled ellipsoidal eggs 62.5–76.5 (70.1) long, 23.8–25.0 (24.2) wide (measured in utero).

These worms were poorly preserved and too fragile to allow the unrolling of the bursa or preparation of sufficient hand cut sections needed to complete a full description. They differed from Nippstrongylinae species 1 in having shorter spicules (83 compared with 152 long), the vulva opening further towards the posterior (91.5 compared with 113.3 from tail tip) and smaller eggs (58.9 long 22.7 wide compared with 70.1 by 24.2). Moreover this combination of metrics and morphology has not been reported for any other species.

Figures

FIGURES 35 – 43. Nippostrongylinae species: Nippostrongylinae sp. 1. 35. Female anterior end, lateral view; 36. Bursa, left and right lateral lobes partially unrolled, rays numbered; 37. Male posterior end, left lateral view, rays numbered; 38. Dorsal ray; 39. Female posterior end, left lateral view. Nippostrongylinae sp. 2. 40. Female anterior end, right lateral view; 41. Female posterior end, right lateral view; 42. Ovejector; 43. Male, transverse section mid body showing the synlophe: oriented with the presumed dorsal aspect of the body towards the top of the page and the left side of the nematode on the left of the page; dorsal and ventral ridges (numbers with superscripts) numbered. Scale bars in µm: 35, 37, 39 – 42, 50; 36, 25; 38, 43, 12.5.