First record and morphological contributions of Procyrnea leptoptera (Rudolphi, 1819) (Nematoda: Habronematidae) in the kestrel Falco tinnunculus Linnaeus (Falconiformes: Falconidae) from Egypt

Abstract

The kestrel Falco tinnunculus, Linnaeus, 1758 is widely distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa, and East coast of North America. It is a predator species that belongs to family Falconidae. Nematode species of the genus Procyrnea infects the proventriculus and gizzard of the birds and may cause serious health hazards including inflammation, erosions, and ulcers for the infected gastric mucosa, general weakness and may lead to death. The present study aimed to improve the limited information regarding the endoparasites of Falco tinnunculus in Egypt. Nine males and twenty-one female nematodes were identified as Procyrnea leptoptera, Rudolphi 1819, Chabaud 1958, isolated from the proventriculus of common kestrel; Falco tinnunculus gathered from El-Faiyum governorate, Cairo, Egypt, as a new geographical record. The isolated species has been studied morphologically by light and scanning electron microscopy. It was revealed that it is characterized by two lateral pseudolabia with dorsal and ventral labia. The pseudolabium is divided into 2 lobes at the internal side, a number of medium-size teeth (4–6) in the buccal cavity on the interior border of pseudolapia, in addition to the presence of transverse striations. Also, the histopathological effects of the isolated nematode on the liver of the infected host revealed severe damage in the bird's tissues and morphological alterations including infiltration of inflammatory cells, congestion, focal necrosis, and degeneration of hepatic cells. Raptors like Falco tinnunculus are infected with parasites via prey ingestion, so they are serving as intermediate hosts for many species of parasites. Due to the scarcity of studies for the helminth parasites of raptors in Egypt, further studies are needed to get additional precise data on the helminthic infection of raptors and their histopathological effects.