Corvus splendens Vieillot (Corvidae), 1817

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 : 218-219

Corvus splendens Vieillot (Corvidae)

Leucocytozoon sakharoffi Sambon, 1908 ( Fig. 9 )

Locality. – Singapore: urban zone, 2001.

Type host. – Corvus corax L., Russia .

Description. – The macrogametocyte is rounded, 11.62 × 9.1 in size, with a central nucleus: 5.6 × 3.08 and an indistinct nucleolus, two-thirds enclosed by the host cell nucleus forming a 14 long, 1.96 wide arch, split into two segments, and by an arch of 12.6, 3.22 wide, of host-cell cytoplasm. The microgametocyte is round, 10.92, 11.62 × 9.1, 9.1 in size with faint blue cytoplasm and a distinct central nuclear red zone 7.42, 5.6 × 4.48, 3.08. The host nucleus, 14 long, encloses half the of the microgametocyte circumference, its exterior rim with or without undulations. Arching host-cell cytoplasm, 4.06 wide, encloses the host cell nucleus.

Remarks. – Blood films from 21 house crows and visceral (liver, kidney and spleen) imprints from 30 crows shot by the municipal authority revealed one infected crow, with one macrogametocyte and two microgametocytes, and another with a juvenile stage in a monocyte.

Leucocytozoon sakharoffi macrogametocyte measurements according to Bennett & Peirce (1992) from Cor. cornix from St. Albans, UK (n = 35) are: length–12.6 ± 1.3; width 10.9 ± 1.0, nucleus length – 3.8 ± 0.8, width 2.5 ± 2.1, host nucleus length: 29.8 ± 3.2. There are some structural differences between the specimens from Cor. splendens and Leu. sakharoffi from Cor. cornix as illustrated in Valkiunas [1997 (2005)], which however are unlikely to suggest interspecific divergence.

Figures

Fig. 9. Leucocytozoon sakharoffi from Corvus splendens, Singapore (from left: macrogametocyte and microgametocyte).