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Morphological and molecular observations on the status of Crassicauda magna, a parasite of the subcutaneous tissues of the pygmy sperm whale, with a re-evaluation of the systematic relationships of the genus Crassicauda

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Abstract

Members of the genus Crassicauda (Nematoda: Spirurida) are parasites of the body tissues of whales and dolphins. Owing to the large size of worms and difficulties in the recovery of entire nematodes from the tissues of hosts, limited information is available on morphological descriptions of both male and female worms. Furthermore, there are currently no available sequence data for this genus to assist with such identifications. This paper describes for the first time features of the anterior extremity and the male tail of Crassicauda magna, suggesting that Crassicauda duguyi may be a synonym of this species. In addition, molecular data are presented for the genus for the first time suggesting that the genus belongs within the superfamily Acuarioidea rather than within the Habronematoidea, in which it is currently placed.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Mike Carr, Natalie Reed and Lou Coles of the Moreton Bay Marine Parks Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sports & Racing) for alerting us to the presence of parasites in the dead whale; Heather Janetzki, Collection Manager (Mammals/Birds), Natural Environments Program, Queensland Museum for facilitating the collection of nematode specimens from the whale parts; Dr Leslie Chisholm of the South Australian Museum for access to material in the museum collections and to Dr K. Rose and J. Hall of Taronga Zoo, Sydney, Australia, for the material from New South Wales. Thanks are also due to Dr D.I. Gibson and Mrs E. Harris, Natural History Museum, London, for access to material in their collection and for information on the taxonomy of the genus and to Prof. J.-L. Justine, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, for access to the types of C. duguyi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Werribee, VIC, Australia

    Abdul Jabbar & Ian Beveridge

  2. Queensland Museum, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Malcolm S. Bryant

Authors
  1. Abdul Jabbar
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  2. Ian Beveridge
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  3. Malcolm S. Bryant
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ian Beveridge.

Additional information

Nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper are available in the GenBank database under the accession number KM233410

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Jabbar, A., Beveridge, I. & Bryant, M.S. Morphological and molecular observations on the status of Crassicauda magna, a parasite of the subcutaneous tissues of the pygmy sperm whale, with a re-evaluation of the systematic relationships of the genus Crassicauda . Parasitol Res 114, 835–841 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4245-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4245-6

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