Neosychnocotyle maggiae Snyder et Tkach , 2007

Type host:

Pig-nosed turtle Carettochelys insculpta (Ramsay, 1886)

Other host:

Victoria River red-faced turtle Emydura victoriae (Gray, 1842)

Type locality:

Daly River, near Oolloo Crossing, Northern Territory, Australia, 14o 00.31’S, 131o 14.46’E.

Type specimens:

Holotype: Queensland Museum (QM) no. G227473. Paratypes: QM nos. 227474 and 227475; Harold W. Manter Laboratory no. HWML 48419 and 48420.

GenBank number: EF015578.

Description (from Snyder and Tkach, 2007)

All measurements in micrometers unless otherwise stated. Measurements based on 6 adult specimens, measurements of holotype in text; measurements of entire series used in description in Table 1. Body 2.57 mm, elongate, nearly uniform in width, with narrow anterior end and somewhat more rounded posterior end. Body margins nearly parallel (Fig. 1). Tegument aspinose. Ventral disk 2,120 x 1,050, wider than body; extends along most of body. Anterior margin of ventral disk 410 from anterior end, just posterior to level of pharynx (Figs 1, 2A). Ventral disk extends beyond posterior end of body, in ventral view posterior end of body obscured by overhanging ventral disk. Ventral disk length:body length ratio - 0.83:1. Ventral disk with 12 transverse rows of alveoli separated by transverse septa, alveoli within rows separated by longitudinal septa. First (anterior most) row consists of 1 alveolus, second row 3 alveoli, third through ninth rows each with 4 alveoli, rows 10 and 11 with 3 alveoli, and the twelfth and most posterior row with 2 alveoli. Marginal bodies at both sides of each transverse septum. Ampullae of marginal bodies small and thin walled.

Oral sucker absent, anterior end tapered, 290 wide at midpoint of oral opening. Mouth opens into very short, almost indistinct prepharynx. Pharynx 150 x 130, large, oval, elongated along anterior-posterior body axis. Esophagus distinct, 60 long, thick walled. Cecum simple, terminating blindly at posterior margin of testis, dorsal to reproductive organs.

Testis 260 x 290, single, median, postovarian, 290 from posterior end of ventral disk, with rounded posterior end and concave anterior surface. Cirrus and cirrus sac absent. Portion of vas deferens anterior to vitelline fields slightly convoluted. Vas deferens terminates in thick-walled, muscular pars prostatica, 90 x 70 pars prostatica empties into genital atrium. Genital atrium at 310 from anterior end of body, ventral to pharynx, ranging from mid-level to posterior margin of pharynx.

Ovary 135 x 145, slightly submedian, slightly lobed, 200 anterior of testis. Ootype between testis and ovary, slightly dextral. Laurer’s canal not visible in whole mounts. Uterus coiled, with up to 15 eggs. Weak, thin-walled metraterm begins posterior to seminal vesicle. Vitellarium consists of 2 lateral vitelline fields merging immediately posterior to testes. Lateral vitelline fields do not merge anteriorly and are comprised of large globular follicles. Anterior margin of vitelline fields at 860 from anterior end of body. Left and right common vitelline ducts merge to form pronounced vitelline reservoir immediately anterior to testis. Eggs 175 x 95, operculate.
ootype.

Illustrations

Neosychnocotyle maggiae. A - Ventral view of holotype, B - Arrangement of loculi on ventral disc. Scale-bar: 1 mm.

Authors: Vasyl V. Tkach, Scott D. Snyder, Yuriy Kuzmin