Ochoterenella complicata n. sp. (Nematoda: Filarioidea) from the Toad Bufo marinus in Western Colombia

Ochoterenella complicata n. sp. is described on the basis of nine gravid females recovered from the retroperitoneum and mesentery of the giant toad, Bufo marinus, in the Pacific lowlands of Colombia. Males were not recovered. Microfilariae are described from blood films, from blood fixed in 2% aqueous formalin, and from specimens removed from the vagina of a worm. The exceptionally short (ca. 4 uLm), low cuticular midbody bosses of the adult female set this species apart from all others, except 0. guyanensis and 0. dufourae. Adjacent bosses of 0. complicata are separated by approximately four times the distance of those of 0. guyanensis, and the latter species has a tail twice the length of that of 0. complicata. The cuticular bosses of 0. dufourae, although of length and disposition comparable with those of the new species, are distinctly salient, and the shape of the tail of 0. dufourae is broad and nearly truncate in contrast to the gradually attenuated, conical tail of 0. complicata. The uniformly slender microfilaria of 0. complicata with its prominent ovoid Innenk6rper, rounded posterior extremity, and tendency to assume a tightly folded attitude in blood films is readily distinguished from that of all other species of Ochoterenella. A key to the gravid females of the 15 known species of Ochoterenella is provided. Members of the genus Ochoterenella Caballero, 1944, as redefined (Esslinger, 1986), appear to be confined to the tropical areas of the Western Hemisphere. With the exception of two species reported from leptodactylid frogs (Travassos, 1929) and one of questionable specific identity from Bufo paracnemis (see Lent et al., 1946), all have been described from the giant toad, Bufo marinus. The specimens of concern in the present report differ from the previously known 14 species; these specimens represent a new species described herein. MATERIALS AND METHODS Specimens of Ochoterenella were collected in 1962 from adult Bufo marinus in the vicinity of Rio Raposo in the Pacific lowlands of Colombia. Adult worms, all females, were recovered from the retroperitoneum and mesentery, fixed for approximately 1 min in glacial acetic acid, and transferred to 70% ethanol. Thin blood films were prepared, lysed in saline, and fixed in hot 70% ethanol; additional blood was preserved in 2% aqueous formalin. Adult worms were examined in pure glycerol following slow evaporation from 70% ethanol containing 5% glycerol; nine of these specimens provided the basis for the description below. Blood films containing microfilariae were stained with Harris' hematoxylin and eosin. Microfilariae in blood fixed in 2% Publication costs, in part, are being met by a grant from the Spencer-Tolles Fund of the American Microscopical Society. TRANS. AM. MICROSC. SOC., 108(2): 197-203. 1989. ? Copyright, 1989, by the American Microscopical Society, Inc. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.249 on Wed, 03 Aug 2016 06:04:09 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms