NEIHPID

Diplodiscus mehrai (Pande Pande) Back

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Taxonomy

Platyhelminthes »
       TREMATODA »
              Digenea »
                     Paramphistomidae Fischoeder, 1901 »
                            Diplodiscinae Cohn, 1904 »
                                   Diplodiscus Diesing, 1836 »
                                           Diplodiscus mehrai, Pande 1957

Synonyms

(D. amphichrus(Tubangui, 1933) Singh, 1954)

Host

Euphlyctis (cyanophlyctis), Haplobatrachus (tigerinus), Haplobatrachus (crassus), Limnonectes (limnocharis), Rana (Sp.)

Habitat

Rectum

Locality

Dimapur (Nagaland), Kohima (Nagaland), Mokokchung (Nagaland)

Description

Body stout, conical, aspinose, tapering anteriorly, broader posteriorly, maximum width in front of the acetabulum. Mouth sub-terminal, muscular, followed by fairly well developed sub-terminal, spherical or oval pharynx with a pair of pharyngeal diverticula arising from its base. Ventral sucker (acetabulum) extremely large, conspicuous, cup-shaped, located at posterior, provided with additional sucker-like elevation. Oesophagus moderate in length, tubular, dilated posteriorly to form a bulb, throughout its course surrounded by oesophageal glands; intestinal caeca more or less straight, running laterally, extending up to or little in front of anterior margin of acetabulum. Testis single, large, oval, situated roughly horizontally near middle half of body, pre-ovarian; two vasa efferentia arising from antero-lateral border of testis, later uniting to form vesicula seminalis externa; pars prostatica, ejaculatory duct present. Cirrus sac absent. Ovary globular, intercaecal to right of median axis,post-testicular, uterus passing posteriorly on right side of ovary,reaching anterior border of acetabulum, running forward dorsally to testis ,occupying entire intercaecal space, terminating in thick convoluted metraterm. Genital pore at junction of oesophagus and intestinal caeca or above it. Vitellaria large, of varying size and shape, extending from little behind pharynx to anterior border of acetabulum, partly overlapping acetabulum. Eggs few, large.

Remarks

The genus Diplodiscus is well established among anuran amphibians of India. D. mehrai was earlier described from Almora (Kumoan hills) and Kashmir from E. cyanophlyctis, Bufo virdis and Rana species. Kohima and Dimapur (Nagaland) represent new locality records, first from North-East India.

Helminthological collections record

NEHU/Z - TA/13