Concepts in Animal Parasitology, Chapter 62: Hirudinia (Class): Parasitic Leeches

Chapter 62 in Concepts in Animal Parasitology on the parasitic leeches, class Hirudinia, by Alejandro Oceguera-Figueroa and Sebastian Kvist. 2024. S. L. Gardner and S. A. Gardner, editors. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.ciap06

Especie nueva de sanguijuela del género helobdella (rhynchobdellida: glossiphoniidae) del lado de Catemaco, Veracruz, México

A new leech species of the genus Helobdella from Catemaco Lake, Veracruz, Mexico is described based on the examination of 23 specimens. Leeches were found attached to submerged rocks and plants. The new species lacks a nuchal scute and is distinguishable from other species of the genus by the presence of a obscure dorsal surface with white spots of different size and irregularly arranged; three or five longitudinal rows of dorsal papillae; salivary glands diffused in the parenchyma; six pairs of crop caeca, the posterior pair forming post-caeca or diverticula.Se describe una especie nueva de sanguijuela del género Helobdella del Lago de Catemaco, Veracruz, México con base en 23 ejemplares. Los organismos se encontraron adheridos a piedras y raíces a las orillas del lago. La especie nueva carece de placa quitinoide dorsal y se diferencia del resto de las especies del género por presentar la superficie dorsal del cuerpo obscura con manchas blancas de tamaño y distribución muy variable; de tres a cinco hileras dorsales de papilas; glándulas salivales difusas en el parénquima; buche con seis pares de ciegos, el último par forma post-ciegos o divertículos

Washington leech collections.

14 p. : ill., map ; 26 cm. "December 7, 2010."An assessment of the hirudinifauna of Washington State is presented. In total, 11 distinct leech species were found representing two new records for the state and two new species of the genus Placobdella, both described herein. Placobdella kwetlumye, n. sp., and Placobdella sophieae, n. sp., both collected in Squires Lake, Whatcom County, are morphologically similar to P. burresonae and P. pediculata respectively, but exhibit morphological features that readily separate them from congeners. In addition to the descriptions of the new species, here we provide a brief summary of the morphological traits possessed by each species found

Concepts in Animal Parasitology, Part 5: Ectoparasites

Part V: Ectoparasites, chapters 60-67, pages 732-841, in Concepts in Animal Parasitology. 2024. Scott L. Gardner and Sue Ann Gardner, editors. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States; part V doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.ciap075 Platyhelminthes Chapter 60: Monogenea (Class) by Griselda Pulido-Flores, pages 733-742 Chapter 61: Transversotremata (Suborder): Ectoparasitic Trematodes by Scott C. Cutmore and Thomas H. Cribb, pages 743-746 Hirudinia Chapter 62: Hirudinia (Class): Parasitic Leeches by Alejandro Oceguera-Figueroa and Sebastian Kvist, pages 747-755 Arthropoda Chapter 63: Siphonaptera (Order): Fleas by Marcela Lareschi, pages 756-770 Chapter 64: Phthiraptera (Order): Lice by Lajos Rózsa and Haylee J. Weaver, pages 771-789 Chapter 65: Triatominae (Subfamily): Kissing Bugs by numerous authors cited from open access sources, compiled by Sue Ann Gardner, pages 790-797 Chapter 66: Acari (Order): Ticks by Darci Moraes Barros-Battesti, Valeria Castilho Onofrio, and Filipe Dantas-Torres, pages 798-835 Chapter 67: Acari (Order): Mites by David Evans Walter, Gerald W. Krantz, and Evert E. Lindquist, pages 836-84

Tyrannobdella rex N. Gen. N. Sp. and the Evolutionary Origins of Mucosal Leech Infestations

BACKGROUND: Leeches have gained a fearsome reputation by feeding externally on blood, often from human hosts. Orificial hirudiniasis is a condition in which a leech enters a body orifice, most often the nasopharyngeal region, but there are many cases of leeches infesting the eyes, urethra, vagina, or rectum. Several leech species particularly in Africa and Asia are well-known for their propensity to afflict humans. Because there has not previously been any data suggesting a close relationship for such geographically disparate species, this unnerving tendency to be invasive has been regarded only as a loathsome oddity and not a unifying character for a group of related organisms. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A new genus and species of leech from Perú was found feeding from the nasopharynx of humans. Unlike any other leech previously described, this new taxon has but a single jaw with very large teeth. Phylogenetic analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial genes using parsimony and Bayesian inference demonstrate that the new species belongs among a larger, global clade of leeches, all of which feed from the mucosal surfaces of mammals. CONCLUSIONS: This new species, found feeding from the upper respiratory tract of humans in Perú, clarifies an expansion of the family Praobdellidae to include the new species Tyrannobdella rex n. gen. n. sp., along with others in the genera Dinobdella, Myxobdella, Praobdella and Pintobdella. Moreover, the results clarify a single evolutionary origin of a group of leeches that specializes on mucous membranes, thus, posing a distinct threat to human health

Phylogenomics of Reichenowia parasitica, an Alphaproteobacterial Endosymbiont of the Freshwater Leech Placobdella parasitica

Although several commensal alphaproteobacteria form close relationships with plant hosts where they aid in (e.g.,) nitrogen fixation and nodulation, only a few inhabit animal hosts. Among these, Reichenowia picta, R. ornata and R. parasitica, are currently the only known mutualistic, alphaproteobacterial endosymbionts to inhabit leeches. These bacteria are harbored in the epithelial cells of the mycetomal structures of their freshwater leech hosts, Placobdella spp., and these structures have no other obvious function than housing bacterial symbionts. However, the function of the bacterial symbionts has remained unclear. Here, we focused both on exploring the genomic makeup of R. parasitica and on performing a robust phylogenetic analysis, based on more data than previous hypotheses, to test its position among related bacteria. We sequenced a combined pool of host and symbiont DNA from 36 pairs of mycetomes and performed an in silico separation of the different DNA pools through subtractive scaffolding. The bacterial contigs were compared to 50 annotated bacterial genomes and the genome of the freshwater leech Helobdella robusta using a BLASTn protocol. Further, amino acid sequences inferred from the contigs were used as queries against the 50 bacterial genomes to establish orthology. A total of 358 orthologous genes were used for the phylogenetic analyses. In part, results suggest that R. parasitica possesses genes coding for proteins related to nitrogen fixation, iron/vitamin B translocation and plasmid survival. Our results also indicate that R. parasitica interacts with its host in part by transmembrane signaling and that several of its genes show orthology across Rhizobiaceae. The phylogenetic analyses support the nesting of R. parasitica within the Rhizobiaceae, as sister to a group containing Agrobacterium and Rhizobium species

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Especie nueva de sanguijuela del género helobdella (rhynchobdellida: glossiphoniidae) del lado de Catemaco, Veracruz, México

A new leech species of the genus Helobdella from Catemaco Lake, Veracruz, Mexico is described based on the examination of 23 specimens. Leeches were found attached to submerged rocks and plants. The new species lacks a nuchal scute and is distinguishable from other species of the genus by the presence of a obscure dorsal surface with white spots of different size and irregularly arranged; three or five longitudinal rows of dorsal papillae; salivary glands diffused in the parenchyma; six pairs of crop caeca, the posterior pair forming post-caeca or diverticula.Se describe una especie nueva de sanguijuela del género Helobdella del Lago de Catemaco, Veracruz, México con base en 23 ejemplares. Los organismos se encontraron adheridos a piedras y raíces a las orillas del lago. La especie nueva carece de placa quitinoide dorsal y se diferencia del resto de las especies del género por presentar la superficie dorsal del cuerpo obscura con manchas blancas de tamaño y distribución muy variable; de tres a cinco hileras dorsales de papilas; glándulas salivales difusas en el parénquima; buche con seis pares de ciegos, el último par forma post-ciegos o divertículos