Antarctophthirus carlinii (Anoplura: Echinophthiriidae), a new species from the Weddell seal Leptonychotes weddelli

MARÍA SOLEDAD LEONARDI; SEBASTIÁN POLJAK; PEDRO CARLINI; JUAN GALLIARI; MAGALÍ BOBINAC; MERCEDES SANTOS; MARÍA ELBA MÁRQUEZ; JAVIER NEGRETE

PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2014 vol. 113 p. 3947 - 3951

0932-0113

Abstract As a part of an ongoing long-term study on thebiology of pack-ice seals in Antarctica, we had the opportunityto collect lice from Weddell seals (Leptonychotesweddelli). We did not find the original description of thishost-parasite association. Antarctophthirus ogmorhini hadpreviously been reported as a parasite for the Weddell seal,but the information is, to a certain extent, confusing. Duringthe development of the present study, we had access to literatureconcerning the presence of A. ogmorhini on this host,which, to our knowledge, was not determined in any of theprevious works on this species. We compared lice collectedfromWeddell seals with A. ogmorhini obtained from the typehost, the leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), and we found thatboth species can be distinguished. The main differences arethe characteristic pattern of chaetotaxy in the dorsal side of thehead in lice from Weddell seals, the size and form of thepseudopenis, and the distribution and size of the fringe ofsetae surrounding the genital opening. Considering theconservative morphology, and ecological and evolutionaryfeatures of sucking lice, we proposed that lice from Weddellseals constitute a new species. In the present work, we describedand illustrated adults of this new species collectedfrom Weddell seals during the austral summer of 2014 at theDanco Coast, Antarctic Peninsula.