New species of Filaria (Nematoda: Filariidae) in the Lesser Grison Galictis cuja (Molina) (Carnivora: Mustelidae) from northern Patagonia, Argentina and comments about the South American species of the genus

ESTEFANÍA BAGANTO; ROMINA D´AGOSTINO; DANIEL EDGARDO UDRIZAR SAUTHIER; MARÍA CELINA DIGIANI

ANAIS DA ACADEMIA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS.

ACAD BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS

Lugar: Rio de Janeiro; Año: 2022 vol. 94

0001-3765

Filaria lorenzo n. sp. is described in the Lesser Grison, Galictis cuja fromnorthern Patagonia, Argentina. The new species can be differentiated from the eightspecies of Filaria from the Old World by the shape of the sclerotized preesophagealring. The four remaining species of the genus parasitize American Mephitidae and/orMustelidae. Filaria carvalhoi from Brazil and F. texensis from USA lack a preesophagealring, whereas F. taxideae from USA and F. conepati from Argentina share with ourspecimens a preesophageal ring mostly mushroom shaped. Our specimens differ fromF. taxideae by lacking lateral alae, by a different ornamentation of the female tail and bythe male lacking adcloacal papillae. The new species also differs from F. conepati by theshape of the preesophageal ring and by the shape of the eggs. The indirect examinationof the types of F. conepati and F. carvalhoi, corroborated the existence of differencesbetween these two species, allowing us to refute their synonymy, as proposed by someauthors. Our results extend the taxonomy of Filaria to 13 species and comprise thefirst report of a filarioid nematode for an Argentinean mustelid, and the first report forPatagonia.