A second parasite found by Tommy Leung in a roadkill skink he found. Click here to see the first.
"So, naturalists observe, a flea has smaller fleas that on him prey; and these have smaller still to bite ’em; and so proceed ad infinitum."
- Jonathan Swift
November 30, 2010
November 30 - Pneunonema tiliquae
A second parasite found by Tommy Leung in a roadkill skink he found. Click here to see the first.
November 29, 2010
November 29 - Equinurbia blakei

Contributed by Mike Kinsella.
November 28, 2010
November 28 - Halipegus eccentricus

The image comes from the paper above and shows a redia of H. eccentricus, with the minute cercaria developing inside.
November 27, 2010
November 27 - Fregata minor

Post and photo by Matt Leslie.
November 26, 2010
November 26 - Genarchella astyanactis
Reference:
Ditrich, O., Scholz, T., Aguirre-Macedo, L. and Vargas-Vázquez, J. 1997. Larval stages of trematodes from freshwater mollusc of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Folia Parasitologica 44:109-127.
Contributed by Tommy Leung.
November 25, 2010
November 25 - Chelopistes meleagridis

November 24, 2010
November 24 - Lemurpediculus verruculosus
Photo contributed by Lance Durden, one of the authors of the new paper.
November 23, 2010
November 23 - Transvena annulospinosa
Reference:
Pichelin, S. and Cribb, T.H. (2001) The status of the Diplosentidae (Acanthocephala: Palaeacanthocephala) and a new family of acanthocephalan from Australian wrasses (Pisces: Labridae). Folia Parasitologica 48: 289-303.
Contributed by Tommy Leung.
November 22, 2010
November 22 - Trichomonas gallinae

November 21, 2010
November 21 - Tetracladium sternae
Post and image by Mike Kinsella.
November 20, 2010
November 20 - Pedicularis groenlandica

Pedicularis groenlandica, or as it is commonly known as because of the shape of its flowers (see insert), Elephant's Head or Elephanthead Lousewort (a big handle for a little flower!) is a parasitic plant in the broomrape family (see also Boschniakia hookeri and Orobranche californica). These plants can be found in - you guessed it - Greenland, but also across Canada and into western North America. P. groenlandica uses haustoria to penetrate the roots of other plants and then suck their water and nutrients out.
November 19, 2010
November 19 - Asymphylodora tincae
Reference and photo source:
Našincová, V. and Scholz, T. (1994) The life cycle of Asymphylodora tincae (Modeer 1790) (Trematoda: Monorchiidae): a unique development in monorchiid trematodes. Parasitology Research 80:192-197.
Contributed by Tommy Leung.
November 18, 2010
November 18 - Clinostomum sp.

Contributed by Jessica Light.
November 17, 2010
November 17 - Tetrabothrius sp.
Contributed by Tommy Leung.
November 16, 2010
November 16 - Opisthorchis viverrini

You can read more about the fluke/cancer link here.
November 15, 2010
November 15 - Pharyngodon australis
Contributed by Tommy Leung.
November 14, 2010
November 14 - Pseudolynchia canariensis

November 13, 2010
November 13 - Brugia malayi
November 12, 2010
November 12 - Amphibiocystidium ranae
Reference:
Pascolini, R., Daszak, P., Cunningham, A.A., Tei, S., Vagnetti, D., Bucci, S., Fagotti, A. and Di Rosa, I. (2003) Parasitism by Dermocystidium ranae in a population of Rana esculenta complex in Central Italy and descriptiion of Amphibiocystidium n. gen. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 56: 65-74
Contributed by Tommy Leung.
November 11, 2010
November 11 - Sanguilevator yearsleyi

Nominated by Joanna Cielocha and image comes from the paper describing the species.
November 10, 2010
November 10 - Holobomolochus confusus

For details, see the papers below:
1. Cavaleiro, F. I. & Santos, M. J. (2007) Survey of the metazoan ectoparasites of the European flounder Platichthys flesus (Linnaeus, 1758) along the north-central Portuguese coast. Journal of Parasitology 93, 1218-1222.
2. Cavaleiro, F. I. & Santos, M. J. (2009) Seasonality of metazoan ectoparasites in marine European flounder Platichthys flesus (Teleostei: Pleuronectidae). Parasitology 136, 855-865.
Contributed by Francisca I. Cavaleiro & Maria J. Santos, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Ciências, Departamento de Biologia, Rua do Campo Alegre, s/n, FC4, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
November 9, 2010
November 9 - Meloe franciscanus

Photo credit: SFSU
Contributed by Tommy Leung.
November 8, 2010
November 8 - Baylisascaris procyonis

You can read more about the human cases of B. procyonis here.
November 7, 2010
November 7 - Syngamus trachea

November 6, 2010
November 6 - Otodectes cynotis
November 5, 2010
November 5 - Armillaria ostoyae

Photo from biopix.dk
November 4, 2010
November 4 - Camptopteroides verrucosa

November 3, 2010
November 3 - Telogaster opisthorchis

Interestingly, it has been found that the parasite combined with herbicide run-off has a synergistic effect on the fish larvae. While the trematode infection alone can induce the spinal deformities, exposure to the herbicide increases the severity of malformation. In addition, snail hosts that produce the cercariae - the infective stage of T. opisthorchis which infects the fish - also release more cercariae after exposure to moderate level of herbicide. Such an example illustrates how human activities can severely alter the dynamics of pre-existing ecological processes in the environment, such as those relating to the transmission of infectious diseases.
Reference:
Kelly, D.W., R. Poulin, D.M. Tompkins, and C.R. Townsend. 2010. Synergistic effects of glyphosate formulation and parasite infection on fish malformations and survival. Journal of Applied Ecology 47: 498-504.
Contributed by Tommy Leung.
November 2, 2010
November 2 - Heduris spinigera

Like most parasites, H. spinigera is restricted to infecting a limited range of host species. Most parasites display some degrees of host specificity, and there are only very few parasites which can truly infect a wide range of different hosts. We now know that many species of parasites, which were previously believed to be host generalists, are actually cryptic species complexes, composed of morphologically similar but genetically distinct species, each infecting a different species of host.
Reference:
Luque, J.L., F.M. Vieira, K. Herrmann, T.M. King, R. Poulin, and C. Lagrue. 2010. New evidence on a cold case: trophic transmission, distribution and host specificity in Hedruris spinigera (Nematoda: Hedruridae). Folia Parasitologica 57: 223-231.
Contributed by Tommy Leung.
Link to paper here.
November 1, 2010
November 1 - Onchocerca volvulus

Image is from this website.
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