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First description of the horse stomach worm, Habronema muscae (Spirurida: Habronematidae) by scanning electron microscopy

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Abstract

Habronema muscae (Spirurida: Habronematidae) occurs in the stomach of equids, is transmitted by adult muscid dipterans and causes gastric habronemiasis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the morphological aspects of adult worms of this nematode in detail. The worms possess two trilobed lateral lips. The buccal cavity was cylindrical, with thick walls and without teeth. Around the mouth, four submedian cephalic papillae and two amphids were seen. A pair of lateral cervical papillae was present. There was a single lateral ala and in the female the vulva was situated in the middle of the body. In the male, there were wide caudal alae, and the spicules were unequal and dissimilar. At the posterior end of the male, four pairs of stalked precloacal papillae, unpaired post-cloacal papillae and a cluster of small papillae were present. In one case, the anterior end showed abnormal features.

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Acknowledgements

This article is dedicated to the late Dr. Ghaffar Ardalani of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Iran, who was of enormous assistance in the collection of the material examined in this study. The author expresses her gratitude to Professor Larry A. Arsenault, head of the electron microscope facility, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Canada, for his assistance in providing all facilities during the study. In addition, the valuable help of Mr. Ernie Spitzer, chief technician, and all technicians in the electron microscope facility are acknowledged. The author thanks Dr. Donato Traversa of the Department of Biomedical Comparative Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Italy, for providing some valuable references. Finally, the author is particularly indebted to Dr. Christine M. Budke of Texas A&M University, USA, for her continuous support and critical review of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, P.O. Box 1177, Urmia, Iran

    Soraya Naem

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  1. Soraya Naem
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Correspondence to Soraya Naem.

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Naem, S. First description of the horse stomach worm, Habronema muscae (Spirurida: Habronematidae) by scanning electron microscopy. Parasitol Res 101, 427–432 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0492-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0492-0

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