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In the Sidewinder, Crotalus Cerastes (Crotalidae), from California

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In the Sidewinder, Crotalus Cerastes (Crotalidae), from California J. Helminthol. Soc. Wash. 62(1), 1995, pp. 78-80 Research Note Hexametra boddaertii (Nematoda: Ascaridae) in the Sidewinder, Crotalus cerastes (Crotalidae), from California CHARLES R. BURSEY,' STEPHEN R. GOLDBERG,2 AND STEPHEN M. SECOR3 1 Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, Shenango Campus, 147 Shenango Avenue, Sharon, Pennsylvania 16146, e-mail: [email protected] 2 Department of Biology, Whittier College, Whittier California 90608, and 3 Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 10833 Leconte Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90024 ABSTRACT: Examination of 40 sidewinder rattle- (1920) to house ascaridoids with 6 uterine snakes, Crotalus cerastes, revealed the presence of the branches. In 1978, Sprent reviewed the genus nematode Hexametra boddaertii (prevalence 5%, mean and placed Ascaris quadrangularis Schneider, intensity 3.5) in the small intestine. This is a new host record and the first report of a natural infection by the 1866, Polydelphis hexauterina Skrjabin, 1916, genus Hexametra in California. and Hexametra quadricornis (Wedl, 1861) sensu KEY WORDS: Nematoda, Ascarididae, Hexametra Araujo, 1969, in synonymy with H. boddaertii. boddaertii, Reptilia, Viperidae, Crotalus cerastes. Sprent (1978) also examined specimens of Hex- ametra in the collection of the U.S. National The sidewinder, Crotalus cerastes Hallowell, Parasite Collection and found that they were H. 1854, ranges from southern Nevada and extreme boddaertii; he therefore concluded that all spec- southwestern Utah into northeast Baja Califor- imens of Hexametra from the Western Hemi- nia, northwest Sonora to southcentral Arizona sphere represented a single species. However, from below sea level to around 1,830 m (Steb- specimens collected from Crotalus horridus Lin- bins, 1985). It is sympatric with a number of naeus and Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma snakes: predominantly, coachwhip, Masticophis (Troost) from Louisiana were described by Bow- flagellum (Shaw); gopher snake, Pituophis caten- man (1984) as Hexametra leidyi. These 2 species, ifer (Blainville); glossy snake, Arizona elegans H. boddaertii and H. leidyi represent the genus Kennicott; and western shovelnose snake, in North American snakes. Chionactis occipitalis (Hallowell); but also west- This note reports the presence of//, boddaertii ern blind snake, Leptotyphlops humilis (Baird and in Crotalus cerastes from California. This finding Girard); rosy boa, Lichanura trivigata Cope; represents a new host and locality record and spotted leafnose snake, Phyllorhynchus decur- what we believe to be the second report of an tatus (Cope); western patchnose snake, Salva- infection by this parasite in a wild population of dora hexalepis (Cope); common kingsnake, North American snakes. Lampropeltis getula (Linnaeus); longnose snake, Forty Crotalus cerastes (21 male, 19 female, Rhinocheilus lecontei Baird and Girard; night mean snout-vent length [SVL] 49.0 ± 6.0 cm, snake, Hypsiglena torquata (Giinther); lyre snake, range 34.1-61.4 cm) were collected in the Kelso Trimophodon hiscutatus (Dumeril, Bibron and Dunes 3.5 km south of Kelso, San Bernadino Dumeril); speckled rattlesnake, Crotalus mitch- County, California, elevation 650-700 m, elli (Cope); and Mojave rattlesnake, Crotalus 34°59'N, 115°57'W, in September 1991 for use scutulatus (Kennicott). in a doctoral dissertation (Secor, 1992). The Hexametra boddaertii (Baird, 1860) Kreis, snakes were subsequently searched for endopar- 1944, was originally described from a single fe- asites. The body cavity was opened ventrally and male specimen taken from a South American the gastrointestinal system and body cavity ex- colubrine snake, Mastigodryas boddaerti (Sen- amined. Nematodes were cleared in glycerol for tzen) Stuart. Baylis (1916, 1920) redescribed the microscopic examination. Five of the 40 speci- specimen and placed the species in the genus mens were deposited in the herpetology collec- Polydelphis Dujardin, 1845, because the speci- tion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Nat- men had more than 2 uterine branches. Kreis ural History (LACM 140779-140783). (1944) subsequently transferred the species to the Two of 40 (5% prevalence) Crotalus cerastes genus Hexametra, a genus created by Travassos harbored nematodes: 3 adult, white cylindrical 78 Copyright © 2011, The Helminthological Society of Washington RESEARCH NOTES 79 ascarid nematodes tapering both anteriorly and 2 female Hexametra boddaertii in the small in- posteriorly but with greater thickness in the pos- testines. terior half of the body were found in the small The genus Hexametra contains 7 species, 4 intestines of LACM 140779 (female, 61.4 cm from lizards and 3 from snakes (see Baker, 1987). SVL); LACM 140781 (female, 54.7 cm SVL) Sprent (1978) considered all ascarids with 6 uter- harbored 4 larval ascarids on visceral fat bodies ine branches from Old World snakes to belong within the coelom. The male specimen measured to H. quadricornis and synonymized 15 species 90 mm, width at midbody 2 mm; both female of nematodes with H. quadricornis', likewise, all specimens measured 130 mm, width at vulva ascarids with 6 uterine branches from New World 2.4 mm; larvae measured 2.4-2.7 mm in length. snakes were considered to belong to H. boddaertii Each possessed 3 equally sized lips, a dorsal and and he synonymized 3 species with H. boddaertii. 2 lateroventral, with rounded angles, slightly The range of H. boddaertii in North America wider than long. In the adults, the anterior border cannot be determined because all but 1 of the of each lip was serrated with tiny teeth (male, 98 specimens in the U.S. National Parasite Collec- teeth; females, 83,87 teeth); the denticles did not tion were from zoo animals; the only noncaptive reach the base of the lip. A ventriculus was ab- host was a "rattlesnake" collected in central Flor- sent; there were no esophageal or intestinal caeca. ida (Bowman, 1984). The other species of Hex- The intestine had a dark brown coloration that ametra from snakes is H. leidyi described by remained throughout the length of the body. The Bowman (1984) from Crotalus horridus and Ag- testes were irregularly coiled, reaching 39 mm kistrodon piscivorus leucostoma from Louisiana. from the posterior end. The cloacal orifice was Bowman (1984) reported 1 additional occur- 0.25 mm from the terminus. The tail of the male rence of H. leidyi', that was in a western rattle- was short, in the form of a cone and provided snake, Crotalus viridis (Rafinesque), that had been with 2 pairs of ventral and 4 pairs of sublateral housed in the San Diego zoo. Hexametra bod- papillae. There were 50 pairs of precloacal pa- daertii is the first species of the genus to be re- pillae. The spicules were equal, well sclerotized, ported from the western United States and only and 1.25 mm in length and tapered to a point the second nematode to be reported from Cro- distally. The vulva was located midbody; the rest talus cerastes. Thubunaea cnemidophorus Ba- of the female reproductive system was in the bero and Matthias, 1967, was the first nematode, posterior half of the body. The vagina was 4.2 possibly a pseudoparasite, i.e., a secondarily in- mm in length and directed posteriorly; the un- gested parasite of prey, to be reported from Cro- branched portion of the 6 branched uterus was talus cerastes (see Babero and Emerson, 1974). 3.25 mm. The anterior ovarian branches ap- proached the vulva but did not extend anterior Literature Cited of it, and posteriorly they did not reach the anus. Babero, B. B., and F. H. Emerson. 1974. Thubunaea The eggs were subspherical, 79-85 pm by 71-82 cnemidophorus in Nevada rattlesnakes. Journal of /nm. (U.S. National Museum Helminthological Parasitology 60:595. Collection, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, Acces- Baker, M. R. 1987. Synopsis of the Nematoda Par- asitic in Amphibians and Reptiles. Occasional Pa- sion No. 83512: Hexametra boddaertii; 83512: pers, Biology, No. 11. Mem. Univ. Newfound- ascarid larvae). land. 325 pp. The adult nematodes were identified by uti- Baylis, H. A. 1916. The types of the species of Ascaris lizing 3 differential characters that Bowman described by Baird. Parasitology 8:411-419. 1920. On the classification of the Ascaridae. (1984) established for separating H. boddaertii II. The Polydelphis group; with some account of from H. leidyi: the number and distribution of other ascarids parasitic in snakes. Parasitology 12: the denticles on the lips and the size of the eggs. 411-426. That is, in H. boddaertii the dentigerous ridge Bowman, D. D. 1984. Hexametra leidyi sp. n. (Nem- extends to the level of the anterior margin of the atoda: Ascarididae) from North American pit vi- pers (Reptilia: Viperidae). Proceedings of the Hel- double papilla whereas in H. leidyi the dentig- minthological Society of Washington 51:54-61. erous ridge extends to the base of each side of Kreis, H. A. 1944. Beitrage zur Kenntnis parasitisch- the lip; H. boddaertii has fewer denticles (79- er Nematoden. XL Neue parasitischer Nemato- 103) than H. leidyi (141-216); and the egg size den. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 51:227-252. Secor, S. M. 1992. Activities and energetics of a sit- of H. boddaertii is smaller (72-86 pm by 65-82 and-wait foraging snake, Crotalus cerastes. Ph.D. Mm) than that of H. leidyi (84-96 fim by 74-89 Dissertation, University of California, Los An- Mm). Thus, LACM 140779 harbored 1 male and geles. 179 pp. Copyright © 2011, The Helminthological Society of Washington 80 JOURNAL OF THE HELMINTHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 62(1), JAN 1995 Sprent, J. F. A. 1978. Ascaridoid nematodes of am- tiles and Amphibians. Houghton Mifflin Com- phibians and reptiles: Polydelphis, Travassosas- pany, Boston, Massachusetts. 336 pp. caris n.g. and Hexametra. Journal of Helmin- Travassos, L. P. 1920. Esboco de uma chave geral thology 52:355-384. dos nematodes sparasitos. Revista de Veterinaria Stebbins, R. C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Rep- e Zootechnia 10:59-70. J. Helminthol. Soc. Wash.
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