Ophiotaenia oumanskyi sp. n. (Eucestoda: Proteocephalidea), a parasite of Lepidobatrachus laevis Budgett, 1899 (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from Paraguay

Abstract

A new species of Ophiotaenia, O. oumanskyi sp. n., is described from the intestine of the frog, Lepidobatrachus laevis (Anura: Leptodactylidae), from Paraguay. Among the 10 species of Ophiotaenia found in anurans of the Neotropical Region, only O. bonariensis Szidat & Soria, 1954 and O. ecuadoriensis Dyer, 1986 possess an apical organ, whereas it is absent in the 8 other species. O. bonariensis differs from O. oumanskyi by the total length of the strobila (400-500 mm versus 50-96 mm) and by the number of testes (120-140 versus 85-119). O. ecuadoriensis differs of O. oumanskyi by the total lenght of strobila (29 mm versus 50-96 mm), by the position of the vagina to cirrus-sac (posterior versus anterior and posterior) and by the diameter of the embryophore (23-26 versus 30). Proteocephalus bufonis Chandra & Gupta, 2007 becomes Proteocephalus chandrae nom. nov. (to avoid homonymy with Proteocephalus bufonis Vigueras, 1942). Proteocephalus chandrae nom. nov. is transferred to Ophiotaenia and becomes Ophiotaenia chandrae n. comb.