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Morphological and molecular description of Tenuisentis niloticus (Meyer, 1932) (Acanthocephala: Tenuisentidae) from Heterotis niloticus (Cuvier) (Actinopterygii: Arapaimidae), in Burkina Faso, with emendation of the family diagnosis and notes on new features, cryptic genetic diversity and histopathology

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Abstract

Specimens described as Rhadinorhynchus niloticus Meyer, 1932 (Rhadinorhynchidae) from two male specimens collected from Heterotis niloticus (Cuvier) in the Egyptian Nile were later redescribed in the genus Tenuisentis Van Cleave, 1936 (Tenuisentidae) based on 12 specimens collected from the same host species in the White Nile. That redescription basically distinguished the two genera based on five traits but did not actually provide a formal description. His account left out information about cerebral ganglion, lemnisci, some reproductive structures, eggs, proboscis hook dissymmetry and roots, size of trunk and a few other structures. We provide (i) the first complete description of this species enhanced by SEM, molecular, and histo-pathological studies; (ii) expand the existing descriptions; (iii) correct questionable accounts advanced by Van Cleave on the cement gland and the hypodermal giant nuclei; and (iv) add descriptions of new features such as the para-receptacle structure which we also report from Paratenuisentis Bullock & Samuel, 1975, the only other genus in Tenuisentidae Van Cleave, 1936. The subsequent description of a few more specimens from the same host collected in Mali was more informative yet incomplete and at variance with our specimens from Burkina Faso. Genetic divergence and phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase c subunit I; COI) and nuclear (18S ribosomal RNA) gene relationships uncovered a cryptic species complex containing two lineages. Based on our studies, the family diagnosis is emended. The acanthocephalan causes damage to the host intestine as depicted in histopathological sections. The invading worm can extend from the mucosal layer to the muscularis externa of the host with subsequent tissue necrosis, villi compression, haemorrhaging and blood loss.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Michael Standing and Kyrie Carpenter, BYU (Brigham Young University) Microscopy, for their professional help with electron optics equipment and plate preparation and editing. We also thank P.R. Pilitt (USNPC) for making it possible to examine the Tenuisentis and Paratenuisentis material.

Funding

This work was supported by an Institutional grant from the Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA and by funding from the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Parasitic Diseases, 11445 E. Via Linda, # 2-419, Scottsdale, AZ, 85259, USA

    Omar M. Amin

  2. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University, 3139 Life Sciences Building, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    R. Paul Evans

  3. Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Biology, Department of Animal Physiology and Biology, University of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), 03 BP 7021, Ouagadougou 03, Burkina Faso

    Magloire Boungou

  4. Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, 401 WIDB, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    Richard Heckmann

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  1. Omar M. Amin
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Correspondence to Omar M. Amin.

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Amin, O.M., Evans, R.P., Boungou, M. et al. Morphological and molecular description of Tenuisentis niloticus (Meyer, 1932) (Acanthocephala: Tenuisentidae) from Heterotis niloticus (Cuvier) (Actinopterygii: Arapaimidae), in Burkina Faso, with emendation of the family diagnosis and notes on new features, cryptic genetic diversity and histopathology. Syst Parasitol 93, 173–191 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-015-9615-7

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