NEIHPID

Amplicaecum sp. Back

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Taxonomy

Nematoda »
        SECERNENTEA »
               Ascarididae Barid, 1853 »
                     Angusticaecinae (Skrjabin et Karokhin, 1945) »
                            Amplicaecum Baylis, 1920 »
                                    Amplicaecum sp.

Host

Haplobatrachus (crassus), Hoplobatrachus (tigerinus)

Habitat

Intestine

Locality

Dimapur (Nagaland)

Description

Long stout worm; body 11.81 mm long, 0.55 mm in maximum breadth. Mouth not clearly divided into anterior and posterior region, without deeply indented anterior margin. Oesophagus long, 2.25 mm; intestine without posterior bulb, intestinal caecum present.

Spicules 2, equal, of moderate length, tapering to bluntly end, caudal alae absent. 11 pairs of pedunculated papillae ventro-lateral, 6 pairs pre-cloacal, 5 pairs post-cloacal, 1 pre-cloacal papilla positioned near anterior region of cloacal opening raised in cleaved vesicle. Of the post-cloacal papillae, 1 pair near tip of tail, a pair of sessile papillae also present ventrally. Tail length 0.297 mm. Length of proximal spicule 0.651 mm, 0.576 mm for distal spicule.

Remarks

The presence of lips with dentigerous ridges, small interlabia, absence of posterior bulb in the oesophagus and ventriclus, presence of intestinal caecum and male with fairly numerous papillae are the characters which conform to the genus Amplicaecum. Hence, the present form is assigned to this genus.

For want of female worms and more male specimens for the study and also pending a comparison with the hitherto known species of the genus, the identification of the present form up to the species level is being kept in abeyance. In the occurrence of Amplicaecum sp. from amphibians of North-East India, Nagaland forms a new locality record for the genus.

Helminthological collections record

NEHU/Z - AA/1

Specimen Type

Holotype: W7770/1 in Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.