Two new species are described from the caiman, Caiman crocodilus yacare. Proterodiplostomum breve n. sp. differs from all other species in the genus by the following characteristics: (1) the paraprostate gland is shorter and club-shaped, (2) the genital cone is, in average, eight times longer than that of P. medusae; (3) the genital atrium is larger and without pseudosuckers; (4) the oral sucker and pharynx are longer, and (5) there are larger numbers of papillae surrounding the tribocytic organ (40) against 20 in P. longum 16 in P. tumidilum, 8 in P. ophidum, and 16-18 in P. medusae. Proterodiplostomum globulare n. sp. differs from all the other species in the genus by the following characteristics: (1) from P. tumidilum, P. longum, P. medusae, and P. breve n. sp. for the absence of pseudosuckers or muscular bunches in the inferior wall of the genital atrium; (2) the shape of the paraprostate gland, which is globular and not cylindrical as in P. longum, P. dilum, P. medusae, and P. ophidum; (3) the size of the tribocytic organ is 201-407 long, 183-495 wide, while is 138-270 long, 102-292 wide in P. medusae, and 138-270 long, 255 wide in P. ophidum; (4) the number of papillae in the tribocytic organ (18-20) in P. globulare and 16-18 in P. medusae, and 8 in P. ophidum. Specimens belonging to six other species of proterodiplostomes are recorded for the first time infecting the caiman, C. c. yacare in the Pantanal Mato-Grossense, Brazil, namely: Proterodiplostomum medusae, P. tumidilum, Cystodiplostomum hollyi, Prolecithodiplostomum constrictum, Paradiplostomum abbreviatum, and Herpetodiplostomum caimancola.
CITATION STYLE
Catto, J. B., & Amato, J. F. R. (1994). Proterodiplostome Parasites (Digenea, Proterodiplostomidae) of the Caiman, Caiman crocodilus yacare (Reptilia, Crocodylia) in the Pantanal mato-Grossense, Brazil, with the description of two new species. Memórias Do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 89(4), 539–551. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0074-02761994000400008
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