Disponible en www.sciencedirect.com Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 86 (2015) 255-261 www.ib.unam.mx/revista/ Research note First report of helminth parasitizing Trachycephalus typhonius (Anura: Hylidae) from northeastern Argentina Primer reporte de helmintos parasitando a Trachycephalus typhonius (Anura: Hylidae) del noreste de Argentina Regina Draghi,* Lía I. Lunaschi, and Fabiana B. Drago Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, División Zoología Invertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque S/Nº, 1900 La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina Received 30 May 2013; accepted 15 October 2014 Abstract Two species of nematodes, Rhabdias cf. elegans (Rhabdiasidae) and Aplectana hylambatis (Cosmocercidae), were recovered from the lungs and intestine of Trachycephalus typhonius (Anura: Hylidae) captured in Formosa Province, Argentina. Morphological and morphometric data of both species are provided, and previous records of Rhabdias spp. in the Neotropical region are summarized. The finding of Rhabdias cf. elegans constitutes the first record of this genus in the Formosa Province, and the finding of A. hylambatis represents the first record of this species as a parasite of hylid frogs, and the first report in Formosa Province. Trachycephalus typhonius represents a new host for both parasites. All Rights Reserved © 2015 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Biología. This is an open access item distributed under the Creative Commons CC License BY-NC-ND 4.0. Keywords: Rhabdias cf. elegans; Aplectana hylambatis; Veined tree frog; Formosa Province Resumen Dos especies de nematodos, Rhabdias cf. elegans (Rhabdiasidae) y Aplectana hylambatis (Cosmocercidae), fueron recuperados de los pulmones e intestino de Trachycephalus typhonius (Anura: Hylidae) capturados en la provincia de Formosa, Argentina. Se proveen datos morfológicos y morfométricos de ambas especies y se resumen los registros previos de Rhabdias spp. en la región neotropical. El hallazgo de Rhabdias cf. elegans constituye el primer registro del género Rhabdias en la provincia de Formosa y el de A. hylambatis representa el primer registro de esta especie en hílidos, y el primer reporte en la provincia de Formosa. Trachycephalus typhonius es un nuevo hospedero para ambos parásitos. Derechos Reservados © 2015 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Biología. Este es un artículo de acceso abierto distribuido bajo los términos de la Licencia Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Palabras clave: Rhabdias cf. elegans; Aplectana hylambatis; Rana lechera común; Provincia de Formosa The veined tree frog or common milk frog, Trachycephalus ically found perching on tree branches and vegetation while typhonius (Linnaeus, 1758) (Anura: Hylidae), is a very wide- foraging at night. It preys on spiders, insects and bats, having a spread frog from the lowlands of tropical Mexico, Central generalist diet (Duré & Kehr, 2006). America (to 2,500 m asl in Guatemala), to Amazon Basin of The helminth fauna of T. typhonius has been poorly studied, so Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and Brazil, Guianas, and far 6 species of helminths have been recorded parasitizing this south to Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina (Frost, 2014; species (cited as Phrynohyas venulosa and Trachycephalus venu- Soares, Iop, & Santos, 2012). In Argentina, this anuran species losus): Polystoma lopezromani Combes and Laurent, 1979 is distributed in Corrientes, Chaco, Entre Ríos, Formosa, Jujuy, (Monogenea: Polystomatidae) from Argentina (Combes & Lau- Misiones, Salta, Santiago del Estero and Santa Fe Provinces rent, 1979); Batracholandros spectatus (Freitas and Ibáñez, 1962) (SIB, 2014). The veined tree frog is a nocturnal amphibian typ- Freitas and Ibáñez, 1965 (Nematoda: Pharyngodonidae), and lar- vae of Physaloptera sp. (Nematoda: Physalopteridae) from Peru * Corresponding author. (Bursey, Goldberg, & Parmalee, 2001); and Parapharyngodon E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Draghi). duniae Bursey and Brooks, 2004 (Nematoda: Pharyngodonidae), http://dx.doi.org/10.7550/rmb.47677 1870-3453/Derechos Reservados © 2015 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Biología. Este es un artículo de acceso abierto distribuido bajo los términos de la Licencia Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. 256 R. Draghi et al. / Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 86 (2015) 255-261 Aplectana incerta Caballero, 1949 and Aplectana itzocanensis Remarks Bravo-Hollis, 1943 (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) from Costa Rica (Bursey & Brooks, 2004, 2010). The aim of this paper is to in- Adult nematodes in the family Rhabdiasidae are common crease the knowledge of the diversity of helminth parasites from lung parasites of amphibians and reptiles, and the infection oc- anurans from northeastern Argentina. cur by skin penetration (Anderson, 2000), orally, or potentially On September 17th 2012, 2 specimens of T. typhonius were via transport hosts (Baker, 1979). So far, of the approximately collected at La Marcela farm in Pirané, Formosa Province, Ar- 90 species of this genus distributed worldwide (Tkach, Kuz- gentina (26°17’35” S, 59°08’38” W), with authorization of Min- min, & Snyder, 2014), 21 species have been reported in the Neo- isterio de la Producción y Ambiente, Dirección de Fauna y tropical Region (Table 1), and 5 of them in amphibians from Parques of Formosa Province. The frogs were dissected after an Argentina: Rhabdias fülleborni Travassos, 1926 in Rhinella overdose with 20% benzocaine and all organs were examined schneideri (Werner) from Corrientes Province; Rhabdias ele- using a Stemi 2000-C Zeiss stereoscope. The collected nema- gans Gutiérrez, 1945 in Rhinella arenarum (Hensel) from Bue- todes were counted and fixed in 5% formaline and cleared in nos Aires and Salta Provinces and in R. schneideri, Aman’s lactophenol for light microscopic investigation, using a Leptodactylus bufonius Boulenger and Odontophrynus ameri- Standard 25 Zeiss optical microscope. For their identification canus (Duméril and Bibron) from Corrientes Province; Rhab- were used taxonomic descriptions taken from specific literature dias mucronata Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1952 in Leptodactylus (Anderson & Bain, 1982; Baker & Vaucher, 1986; González, latrans (Steffen) from Corrientes Province; Rhabdias truncata Quiroga, Moreno, & Sanabria, 2013; Gutiérrez, 1945). All mea- Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1952 in Telmatobius schreiteri Vellard surements are given in micrometres (μm) unless otherwise stat- from Tucumán Province and Rhabdias aff. sphaerocephala in ed, as the range followed by the mean and standard deviation in Rhinella fernandezae (Gallardo) from Corrientes Province. parentheses. The nematodes were deposited in the Helmintho- Moreover, specimens of Rhabdias sp. in Leptodactylus ch- logical Collection of the Museo de La Plata (MLP), and the aquensis Cei and Physalaemus biligonigerus (Cope) were re- hosts in the Herpetological Collection of the Museo de La Plata, ported from Corrientes and Córdoba Provinces, respectively La Plata, Argentina (accession numbers: MLP A5642, MLP (González & Hamann, 2007, 2008, 2009; Gutiérrez, 1945; A5643). Gutiérrez, Attademo, Guerrero, Peltzer, & Lajmanovich, 2005; Kloss, 1971; Hamann, Kehr, & González, 2012, 2013; Schuur- Rhabdiasidae Railliet, 1915 mans Stekhoven, 1952; Sueldo & Ramírez, 1976). Rhabdias Stiles and Hassall, 1905 The specimens here studied are closely related to the original Rhabdias cf. elegans Gutiérrez, 1945 (Fig. 1) description of R. elegans when considering the slightly poste- Host: Trachycephalus typhonius (L.) (Anura: Hylidae). quatorial position of the vulva (3.3 vs. 2.4-4.4 mm from anterior New host record. region of the body), the body length (5.9-6.4 vs. 4.5-9.5 mm), Site of infection: lungs. the absence of lip structures in the anterior end, the cylindrical Prevalence and intensity of infection: 50% (1 of 2); 2. esophagus (369-391 vs. 314-490 long) and the eggs size (101-110 Voucher specimens deposited: MLP-He 6792. ϫ 49-66 vs. 91-112 ϫ 52-59). Given that have been found only 2 specimens and that has been stated by several researchers that Description the conservative morphology of the genus Rhabdias (uniform shape and size) and absence of males in the parasitic generation (Based on 2 hermaphrodite gravid specimens). Body cylin- can result in the incorrect identification of some species (Kuz- drical. Body length 5.9-6.4 (6.1±0.38) mm, maximum width min, Tkach, & Synder, 2003; Martínez-Salazar, Pérez-Ponce de 0.43-0.46 (0.44±0.02) mm. Anterior end rounded, posterior end León, & Parra-Olea, 2009) more specimens will be necessary for conical. Body cuticle swollen, with irregular folds. Oral opening a proper morphological and molecular taxonomic determination. narrow, without labial structures. Buccal capsule infundibuli- form, with sclerotized walls, 12-19 (15.6±5.3) deep, 16.5-19 Cosmocercidae Raillet, 1916 (17.7±1.8) wide. Esophagus small, cylindrical, with a posterior Aplectana Railliet and Henry, 1916 dilatation. Esophagus length, 369-391 (380±15.71), 6-6.2 (6.1)% Aplectana hylambatis (Baylis, 1927) Travassos, 1931 of the body length. Esophagus width 45-57 (51±8.32) at anterior (Figs. 2, 3, and 4) region. Posterior bulb 67-114 (90±33.48) wide. Inconspicuous Host: Trachycephalus typhonius (L.) (Anura: Hylidae). nerve ring at 166.6 from the anterior region of the body (2.8% New host record. of the body length). Inconspicuous excretory duct. Intestine Site of infection: small and large intestine. wide and filled