Abstract
The Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis Fauvel (Reptilia: Crocodylia) is considered as one of the most critically endangered species of the 23 extant crocodiles. However, our knowledge of the helminth parasites of this rare animal is completely lacking. During a helminthological survey of reptiles in China, we found a new ascaridoid nematode, Dujardinascaris gigantea sp. n. from A. sinensis. The morphology of D. gigantea sp. n. was studied using light and scanning electron microscopy. The new species was also characterised using molecular methods by sequencing and analysing the small ribosomal DNA (18S) and the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2).
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Mrs Jin-Hong Zhao (Department of Medical Parasitology, Wannan Medical University, 241002, Wuhu, Anhui Province, P. R. China) for sending specimens of Dujardinascaris. We are grateful to Dr. David I. Gibson (Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK) for supplying useful literature. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 31101615), the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Education Department (No. Y2012012), the Postdoctoral Research Projects Merit Subsidy of Human Resources and Social Security Department of Hebei Province, and the Natural Science Foundation and Biology Postdoctoral Programme of Hebei Normal University (Nos. L2010B13 and 111008).
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Li, L., Guo, YN. & Zhang, LP. Dujardinascaris gigantea sp. n. (Nematoda: Ascaridida) from the critically endangered crocodile Alligator sinensis Fauvel (Reptilia: Crocodylia). Parasitol Res 114, 801–808 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-3980-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-3980-z