Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

On Acanthocephala of Turtles, with the Description of Neoechinorhynchus emyditoides n. sp.

1960; American Society of Parasitologists; Volume: 46; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/3275185

1937-2345

Frank M. Fisher,

Parasite Biology and Host Interactions

Acanthocephalans of the genus Neoechinorhynchus are common parasites of turtles in the United States and have been found many times since Leidy (1851) reported the first species, N. emydis. That more than one species had been confused as N. emydis was pointed out by Cable and Hopp (1954) who described two additional ones, N. pseudemydis and N. chrysemydis, and suggested that still other unrecognized species of Neoechinorhynchus may parasitize turtles. During a routine examination of turtles obtained from a commercial supplier for other purposes, a new acanthocephalan was found and reported in a preliminary note (Cable and Fisher, 1957). That species is described more fully below. In an effort to determine whether still others may occur in those hosts, an extensive study of material from three sources was made: (1) living turtles obtained from various localities, (2) acanthocephala deposited in the Helminthological Collection of the U. S. National Museum, and (3) specimens loaned by individuals. Although no further species were found, the four recognized ones were abundantly represented as a basis for describing the new species and supplementing existing descriptions of the other three. Considerable information bearing on their geographical distribution and host specificity also was obtained. The study was made under the direction of Prof. R. M. Cable. Mr. Allen McIntosh placed at the author's disposal material in the Helminthological Collection of the U. S. National Museum, and additional specimens were kindly provided by Dr. Margarita Bravo-Hollis of the Instituto de Biologia, Mexico City, and by Dr. Franklin Sogandares-Bernal, Tulane University.