Progamotaenia vombati, Beveridge, I. & Shamsi, S., 2009

Beveridge, I. & Shamsi, S., 2009, Revision of the Progamotaenia festiva species complex (Cestoda: Anoplocephalidae) from Australasian marsupials, with the resurrection of P. fellicola (Nybelin, 1917) comb. nov., Zootaxa 1990, pp. 1-29 : 25-27

Progamotaenia vombati sp. nov.

( Figs 65–70)

Synonyms: Progamotaenia festiva ( Rudolphi, 1819) sensu Beveridge (1976) , Baverstock et al. (1985), Spratt et al. (1991).

Host: Vombatus ursinus (Shaw) (Marsupialia: Vombatidae ).

Site in host: bile ducts.

Types: Holotype, Little Bombay, New South Wales (35° 24' S, 149° 40' E), coll. D.M. Spratt, 3.ii.1976, SAM 29371; paratypes (fragments), same data, SAM V 758 .

Etymology: the species name is derived from the generic name of the host.

Material examined: From V. ursinus (common wombat): New South Wales: types; 2 scoleces and fragments, Bondo State Forest ( SAM 22093 (S), WLHC C181 , C225 (S)); Australian Capital Territory: 1 specimen, Condor Creek ( WLHC C121 (S)), 1 scolex, fragments, Brindabella Range ( SAM V759 (S)) ;

Victoria: 1 scolex, fragments, Bairnsdale ( SAM 21334 (S)), fragments, Sarsfield ( SAM 21504 (S)) .

Description: Worms of variable width, no intact specimens. Scolex 0.76–1.38 (1.13, n=3) in diameter, weakly 4-lobed at apex; suckers circular, 0.406 –0.455 (0.423, n=3) in diameter. Neck prominent. First mature segment 85th (n=1). Mature segments craspedote, 1.02–3.49 (2.59) wide, 0.163 –0.569 (0.356) long. Genital atrium small, in posterior third of lateral segment margin; cirrus sac elongate, extending well beyond osmoregulatory canals, 0.228 –0.650 (0.435) long, 0.052 –0.130 (0.085) wide; cirrus unarmed; internal seminal vesicle occupies approx. 2/3–3/4 of volume of cirrus sac, 0.098 –0.410 (0.271) long, 0.020 –0.046 (0.034) wide; elongate external seminal vesicle, covered with layer of glandular cells, 0.065 –0.390 (0.222) long, 0.033 –0.195 (0.117) wide; vas deferens coils medially, dorsal to uterus; testes arranged in anterior half of segment between osmoregulatory canals; no prominent space between canals and testis fields; testes arranged in 2 dorso-ventral layers, in single band or in 2 separate groups separated by small space. Testes 0.026 –0.078 (0.063) in diameter; testis number 83–112 (98, n=10). Vagina tubiform, lacking glandular investment, opens to genital atrium posterior to cirrus sac, leads to ovoid seminal receptacle 0.065 –0.423 (0.278) x 0.039 –0.312 (0.190). Ovary flabelliform, medial to seminal receptacle 0.046 –0.195 (0.112) x 0.033 –0.150 (0.087); vitellarium reniform, posterior to ovary, 0.078 –0.293 (0.182) x 0.052 –0.228 (0.115); Mehlis’ gland anterior and medial to vitellarium. Uteri paired in each segment, transverse, tubular; early uterus extends from level of antiporal margin of ovary to near proximal pole of cirrus sac; developing uterus extends medially and laterally, lateral extensions crossing osmoregulatory canals dorsally; uteri of each segment do not meet in mid-line. Gravid segments 0.455 –0.861 (0.661, n=9) long, 2.19–3.41 (2.72, n=9) wide. Egg spherical, shell smooth, 0.045 –0.049 (0.048) in diameter; pyriform apparatus conical, terminating in numerous fine filaments at apex; oncosphere 0.014 –0.020 (0.017) in diameter. Osmoregulatory canals paired; ventral canal generally wider than dorsal, medial to it; ventral canal 0.013 –0.052 (0.034) in diameter, dorsal canal 0.013 –0.033 (0.018) in diameter; transverse canal connects ventral canal at posterior margin of each segment; accessory canals absent.

Remarks. This species is described from a limited range of material, including only a single complete specimen. Consequently, the metric data available for this new species are limited. P. vombati differs from P. festiva in being a small species with the first mature segment at about segment number 85 compared with 170–205 in P. festiva . It differs from P. fellicola and P. aemulans in lacking a distinct space between the testis fields and the osmoregulatory canals and from P. pulchella in having the testes usually arranged in a single band. It is further differentiated from P. pulchella , as well as from P. corniculata and P. onychogale in having a conical pyriform apparatus rather than one which terminates in paired horns. P. vombati differs from P. adspersa in which the cirrus sac barely penetrates into the medulla and from P. dilatata in the number of testes per segment (68–78 in P. dilatata , 83–112 in P. vombati ). Material of this species was included in the MEE study by Baverstock et al. (1985), but was not available for the molecular study of Beveridge et al. (2007).