NEIHPID

Cryptotropa sp. Strand 1928 Back

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Taxonomy

Platyhelminthes »
       TREMATODA »
              Digenea »
                     Lecithodendridae (Lühe, 1901) Odhner, 1911 »
                            Cryptotropinae Yamaguti, 1958 »
                                   Cryptotropa Strand, 1928 »
                                           Cryptotropa sp. (Strand 1928)

Description

Body elongate or oval with rounded anterior end, rounded or slightly conical posterior end, spinose.1.80-2.29 mm in length, 0.85-1.05 mm in maximum width across ventral sucker. Oral sucker sub-terminal, spherical, somewhat thicker at lower rim. Ventral sucker pre-equatorial or equatorial. Pre-pharynx indistinct; pharynx muscular; oesophagus of moderate length; intestinal caeca extending in post-acetabular region up to level of anterior margin of testes. Testes round or oval, lying symmetrically juxtaposed in posterior region of body; cirrus sac well developed elongated, somewhat S-shaped, recurved, lying on left side of body, extending from near junction of oesophagus and intestinal caeca up to anterior margin of oral sucker. Ovary rounded, pre-testicular, post-acetabular; receptaculum seminis conspicuous, lying posterior to ovary; uterus pre-testicular, occupying area between ovary and testes, extends anteriad partially overlapping intestinal caeca. Genital pore marginal or sub-marginal, on left at level of anterior margin of oral sucker. Vitellaria in varying follicular size, extend in lateral field from level of pharynx posteriorly up to post-testicular region, scattered in intercaecal as well as intracaecal fields. Eggs ovoid, operculate, without any antopercular projection, numerous, 0.02-0.03 x 0.01 mm.

Remarks

In having a well developed cirrus sac and marginal or sub-marginal genital pore located in the region of the pharynx, the present form belong to the family Lecithodendriidae. In having intestinal caeca extending posteriorly beyond the ventral sucker , ovary anterior to the testes, sub-marginal genital pore in the pharyngeo-oesophageal region and vitellaria extending into the post testicular hind region of the body .The present form seems to belong to the genus Cryptotropa. This genus was erected by Strand,(1928) for a species described by Ozaki (1926) as Cryptotrema kuretanii from Polypedates buergeri in Japan. Yamaguti (1958) created a new subfamily Cryptotropinae under Lecithodendriidae for this genus, whereas Khotenovsky,(1965) erected a separate family Crytotropidae. However, Prudhoe and Bray (1982) did not assign the genus to any subfamily and retained it under Lecithodendriidae, since the relationship of Cryptotropa with Plagiorchiidae and Telorchiidae are not yet well established.

Presently the genus Cryptotropa included 2 species, namely the type species C. kuretanil and  C. electrinos Deblock, Capron et Brygoo, (1965) from a reptile,  Chamaeleo boettgeri  in Madagascar. A comparison of the present form with the species represented in the  amphibian host, i.e., C. kuretanii reveals several differences. The intestinal caeca in the present form extend posteriorly much beyond the ventral sucker and up to the level of testes, the uterine coils extend in the pre-testicular region only and do not wind in between the testes, the genital pore is located marginally in level with the anterior edge of the oral sucker and the eggs lack a boss at the anopercular pole. In C. kuretanii the intestinal caeca are very short, termination in the region of the ventral sucker, the uterine coils wind in the inter-testicular region, the genital pore lies in level with the pharynx and the eggs have a small boss at the anopercular end.

In view of the conspicuous differences of the present form with the hitherto known species of Cryptotropa it is suggested to be a new species.