Neoheligmonella affinis ( Baylis, 1928 )

Durette-Desset, Marie-Claude & Digiani, Maria Celina, 2010, Taxonomic revision of the type specimens of Ethiopian Nippostrongylinae (Nematoda) deposited at the Natural History Museum of London, Zootaxa 2494, pp. 1-28 : 21-22

Neoheligmonella affinis ( Baylis, 1928)

(= Heligmonella affinis, Baylis, 1928 ) ( Table 10, Figures 33–34 )

The type material is preserved in alcohol, but the specimens are flattened and included in a thin film of Canada balsam, indicating that they were originally mounted on slides, then unmounted. The material is made up of three males and three females, all with the label “cotypes” in two separate flasks. One of the flasks contained two vials and three labels. Label 1: “1929.1.24 102–103 Heligmonella affinis Ex Mastomys erythroleucus, Adu + Oyo, Nigeria, Co-types”. Label 2: “ Heligmonella affinis Baylis, 1928 - Mastomys erythroleucus - 1 male, 2 females cotypes”. Label 3: “ Heligmonella affinis Baylis, 1928 - Mastomys erythroleucus -Oyo, Nigeria-single male (broken) cotype”. Since labels 2 and 3 corresponded with the content of both vials we considered these specimens (two males and two females) to be the type material. The other flask contained a vial and four labels: two labels referred to the hosts, sites and localities: “ Mastomys erythroleucus n° 379-intestine-Adu-Nigeria” and “ M. erythroleucus n° 470-intestine-Oyo-Nigeria”. The other two labels referred to the parasites: “ H. affinis Baylis, 1928 -male, females-1929.1.24.103” and “ H. affinis Baylis, 1928 -male-1929.1.24.102”. The references on the labels did not correspond with the content of the vial, which contained one male and one female, and therefore those specimens are not treated in this work.

Among the type material, only one male and one female corresponded well with the description of Baylis, which is not illustrated. In these specimens the left ala is absent. The male was 3.25 mm long and 90 wide with thick spicules 380 long (SpL/BL: 11.7%) ( Figure 34 ). The female, 3.65 mm long and 80 wide, had “the caudal end hooked ventrally and the body slightly swollen in front of the vulva”. The body diameter abruptly decreases at level of the hook ( Figure 33 ).

The second female had striking differences with the type female, mainly the tail shape and the number of eggs, which allow us to exclude it easily as N. affinis . The absence of a left ala excludes it from the genus Heligmonina . However, it is not possible to place it in a given genus and we prefer to treat this specimen as a member of the Nippostrongylinae .

In the second male, 1.90 mm long, the left ala was not observed and the spicules were 390 long. The SpL/ BL is of 20.1%. However this ratio is uncertain because the specimen is broken; although there are no fragments lacking, it is not possible to confirm the body length. Since we are not able to confirm or to exclude the attribution of this male to N. affinis , it is considered as Neoheligmonella sp.

Figure 29 , slide 74, figure 30, slide 75 from Cricetomys emini nº 197. Figure 31 , slide 72 from Malacomys edwardsi nº 45. Figure 32 , slide 63 from Praomys tullbergi nº 189. Figure 33 , Figure 34 , from Mastomys erythroleucus (without number). Figure 35 , slide 134 from Mus (Nannomys) musculoides nº 385.

Figures

FIGURES 29 – 35. Figures 29 – 32. Neoheligmonella moennigi (Baylis, 1928). 29, male, anterior extremity, ventral view. 30, 31, male, 30, caudal bursa, dorsolateral right view. 31, one spicule and gubernaculum in situ, right lateral view. 32, paralectotype female, posterior extremity, left lateral view. Figures 33 – 34. Neoheligmonella affinis (Baylis, 1928). 33, paralectotype female, posterior extremity, left lateral view. 34, lectotype male, spicules and gubernaculum in situ, ventral view. Figure 35. Heligmonoides murina Baylis, 1928. Female, posterior extremity, showing the disappearance of cuticular ridges, left lateral view.