Chapter 1 Introduction

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Chapter 1 Introduction A study on the Pentastomida parasitising crocodilian and chelonian final hosts, with special emphasis on the South African pentastome fauna Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften von der Fakultät für Chemie und Biowissenschaften der Universität Karlsruhe (TH) angenommene DISSERTATION von Diplom-Biologin Kerstin Junker aus Gütersloh/Nordrhein-Westfalen Dekanin: Prof. Dr. D. Stüben 1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. H. Taraschewski, Universität Karlsruhe (TH) 2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. J.D.F. Boomker, University of Pretoria 3. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. K. Schmidt, Universität Karlsruhe (TH) Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 18. Dezember 2002 Für meine Oma, Mathilde Flaskamp Declaration DECLARATION / ERKLÄRUNG I herby declare that the present investigation is my own work, excepting the assistence and sources acknowledged in the text. No unauthorized means were used. The work on which this thesis is based is original and neither the whole work nor any part of it has been submitted for another degree at this or any other university. Hiermit erkläre ich, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbständig verfasst und keine unerlaubten oder ungenannten Hilfsmittel verwendet habe. Weder die gesamte Dissertation noch Teile daraus wurden bisher anderweitig als Prüfungsarbeit verwendet oder einer anderen Fakultät als Dissertation vorgelegt. Pretoria, 28. September 2002 Kerstin Junker i Acknowledgements ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is difficult to acknowledge fully all the people, colleagues and family whose input and assistance have made this project possible. I extend my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Horst Taraschewski for accepting me as PhD student in his Department (Department of Ecology/Parasitology at the University of Karlsruhe), and for trusting me to conduct this project overseas. His assistance in registering the project with the University of Karlsruhe and obtaining the necessary funding, and his critical review of the manuscript are greatly appreciated. Frau Cornelia Haug, from the same department, was a constantly kind and efficient link between South Africa and Germany. A special word of thanks is due to Prof. Dr. Joop Boomker without whose expertise and long-standing association with the scientific staff of the Kruger National Park this work would not have been possible. It was a privilege to start out and now to continue my research on the Pentastomida under his supervision and guidance. His continued positive input and constructive criticism, the active involvement in host and parasite collection and the provision of some of the funding for this investigation are greatly appreciated. Furthermore, I am indebted to Prof. Boomker for providing the opportunity to house the experimental crocodiles on his property and for his assistance in their maintenance, and last but not least, for the many valuable suggestions and editorial assistance as regards the manuscript. I would also like to acknowledge the team in his department (Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases at the University of Pretoria), especially Ryno Watermeyer for his able assistance with technical detail and the necropsies of some of the crocodilian and chelonian hosts, and Dirk Booyse for his fishing expertise and help with the post mortems of some of the crocodiles. The University of Pretoria is thanked for making the necessary facilities available. ii Acknowledgements I am indebted to the Board of Trustees, South African National Parks Board and the Phalaborwa Mining Company for placing the Nile crocodiles and fish at my disposal. My special thanks go to Mr. Douw Swanepoel and Dr. Andrew Deacon (Kruger National Park). Mr. Swanepoel made the arrangements as regards the collection of all the crocodiles, has provided valuable information on these hosts and his expertise in capturing wild crocodiles was invaluable to this survey. Dr. Deacon has kindly organised the collection of fish in the Park. Without the co-operation of the Department of Agriculture, Land & Environment, Northern Province and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Mpumalanga the studies on terrapins and fish from the Arabie Dam could not have been conducted. I wish to thank Mr. Danie Brits of the latter Department for the opportunity to use the facilities at the Marble Hall fisheries station, and his staff members for their kind assistance. I am especially grateful to Mr. André C. Hoffman who has gone to extraordinary lengths to collect terrapins and fish for this study and also has helped with the recovery of parasites. The Nature Conservation Department, Gauteng has kindly granted permission to keep the experimental crocodiles and Mr. and Mrs. Kuhlman, Izintaba Crocodile farm, have made stock available to me. My sincere appreciation to Dr. John Riley, University of Dundee, Scotland, for his continued interest in this project, valuable advice matters pentastome, his knowledge shared in countless articles on the Pentastomida, and the critical review of all the publications that have resulted from the present investigation. He also let me examine his collection of specimens of Diesingia megastoma. Mr. Dieter Hoffman, Rand Afrikaans University, has generously collected and provided some of the Pelonia specimens. iii Acknowledgements Kluwer Publishing and the Editor: Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research are thanked for granting me copyright to reproduce in this thesis parts of articles that have appeared in their respective Journals. Most of all, however, I wish to thank my parents, Marlies and Gerhard Junker,for their unfailing encouragement and constant support right from the very start. Without their back-up I would not have accomplished this. The entire survey would not have been possible without the financial support of the Landesgraduiertenförderung, Baden-Württemberg and theDeutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. In this regard I especially would like to thank Mrs. Nothum and Mrs. Kallmeyer for their kind arrangements iv Acknowledgements LIST OF CONTENTS Declaration / Erklärung.....................................................................................................i Acknowledgements......................................................................................................... ii List of contents................................................................................................................v Summary........................................................................................................................ ix Zusammenfassung....................................................................................................... xiv Introduction .....................................................................................................................1 Goals and objectives of this study..........................................................................2 General material and methods........................................................................................4 2.1 Study localities and climatological data............................................................4 2.1.1 The Kruger National Park ........................................................................4 2.1.1.1 The Sabie River.........................................................................6 2.1.1.2 The Phabeni Dam......................................................................7 2.1.1.3 The Olifants River....................................................................10 2.1.1.4 The Shingwedzi River – Silwervis Dam...................................11 2.1.2 The Phalaborwa Mining Corporation Game Reserve............................12 2.1.3 The Arabie Dam ....................................................................................12 2.2 Collection of naturally infected hosts..............................................................12 2.2.1 Naturally infected crocodiles..................................................................12 2.2.2 Naturally infected terrapins....................................................................13 2.2.3 Naturally infected fish ............................................................................14 2.3 Collection of pentastomes ..............................................................................14 2.4 Identification and morphological analysis of pentastomes .............................16 2.5 Experimental infections ..................................................................................18 2.5.1 Experimentally infected crocodiles ........................................................18 2.5.2 Experimentally infected fish...................................................................22 2.6 Histopathological examinations......................................................................23 2.7 Terminology....................................................................................................23 2.8 Statistical analysis ..........................................................................................24 New or revised taxa of crocodilian and chelonian pentastomes ...................................25 3.1 Description of the males of Leiperia cincinnalis (Vaney & Sambon, 1910) Sambon, 1922 with additional data on the females........................................25 Introduction.....................................................................................................25 v Acknowledgements Material and methods.....................................................................................26 Results
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