Abstract
Cosmocercid nematodes have been documented with much criticism due to the numerous inaccurate descriptions, redescriptions and synonymisation of found species. This is due to indistinguishable characters of females and the lack of male specimens found. Consequently, the species C. ornata is the most commonly found species worldwide and the only species of the genus reported in South Africa. In the present study, we found Cosmocerca in three different amphibian species, namely Cacosternum boettgeri, Kassina senegalensis and Phrynomantis bifasciatus. Based on differences in the shape of the gubernaculum and number of papillae, the found nematodes were assigned to three new species namely C. daly n. sp., C. monicae n. sp. and C. makhadoensis n. sp. Descriptions of species are followed by pairwise and phylogenetic analysis of partial ITS-28S sequences. All three species were found only in their host types from distant localities. Therefore, we hypothesise that host specificity of Cosmocerca from South African amphibians might be rather high and that the presence of C. ornata throughout South Africa is rather doubtful.
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12 May 2022
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07478-8
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Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge Mr W Landman for his assistance with the amphibian hosts collection and the SEM imagery and Dr. Anneke Schoeman for her helpful advices and suggestions.
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The original online version of this article was revised: The article “Three new species of Cosmocerca Diesing, 1861 (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) parasitising frogs Cacosternum boettgeri Boulenger, 1882, Kassina senegalensis Dumeril and Bibron, 1841 and Phrynomantis bifasciatus Smith, 1847 from South Africa,” written by F. Harnoster, L. H. du Preez, and R. Svitin, was originally published online on January 19, 2022 with Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence 4.0. After publication in volume 121, issue 2, page 563–571, the author(s) decided to cancel the Open Access. Therefore, the copyright of the article has been changed on February 18, 2022 to © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature 2021 with all rights reserved.
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Harnoster, F., du Preez, L.H. & Svitin, R. Three new species of Cosmocerca Diesing, 1861 (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) parasitising frogs Cacosternum boettgeri Boulenger, 1882, Kassina senegalensis Dumeril and Bibron, 1841 and Phrynomantis bifasciatus Smith, 1847 from South Africa. Parasitol Res 121, 563–571 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07390-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07390-7