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Procamallanus (Procamallanus) spp. (Nematoda: Camallanidae) in fishes of the Okavango River, Botswana, including the description of P. (P.) pseudolaeviconchus n. sp. parasitic in Clarias spp. (Clariidae) from Botswana and Egypt

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Abstract

Parasitological dissections of fishes from the Okavango River, Botswana, revealed the presence of nematodes of the subgenus Procamallanus (Procamallanus) Baylis, 1923 in five fish species belonging to three different families. Based on light and scanning electron microscopical examinations, they proved to represent one previously known and one new species, i.e. P. (P.) laeviconchus (Wedl, 1861) from Synodontis nigromaculatus Boulenger, S. thamalakanensis Fowler (new host) (both Mochokidae) and Schilbe intermedius Rüppel (new host) (Schilbeidae), and P. (P.) pseudolaeviconchus n. sp. from Clarias stappersi Boulenger and C. theodorae Weber (both Clariidae). Specimens of the new species previously collected from Clarias gariepinus (Burchell) (type-host) in Egypt were also examined. Both of these nematode species are very similar, differing from each other mainly in the shape of the circumoral flange, which is conspicuously lobed in P. laeviconchus and unlobed in P. pseudolaeviconchus. Previously, these two species have been confused in the literature under the name P. laeviconchus. A key to Procamallanus (Procamallanus) spp. parasitising freshwater fishes in Africa, including Madagascar, is provided.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the National Research Foundation, South Africa, for financial assistance. Our thanks are also due to the staff of the Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the ASCR, České Budějovice, for their technical assistance, and to Blanka Škoríková of the same Institute for help with the illustrations. The authors also thank two anonymous reviewers for the helpful suggestions, and David Gibson, Natural History Museum, London, for the linguistic revision of the MS. This study was partly supported by the Czech Science Foundation (Grant. No. P505/12/G112) and by institutional support (RVO:60077344, Institute of Parasitology, BC AS CR).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    František Moravec

  2. Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, PO Box 339, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa

    Liesl L. Van As

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  1. František Moravec
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Correspondence to František Moravec.

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Moravec, F., Van As, L.L. Procamallanus (Procamallanus) spp. (Nematoda: Camallanidae) in fishes of the Okavango River, Botswana, including the description of P. (P.) pseudolaeviconchus n. sp. parasitic in Clarias spp. (Clariidae) from Botswana and Egypt. Syst Parasitol 90, 137–149 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-014-9541-0

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