Developmental Stages of Grassenema procaviae Petter, 1959 (Cosmocercoidea: Atractidae) Found in the Stomach of Cape Hyrax (Procavia capensis)

Hideo Hasegawa, Kei Hayashi, Yuko Akita, Yumi Une, Michael A. Huffman, Keiko Matsuura

Morphological examination was made of the larval forms of Grassenema procaviae (Cosmocercoidea: Atractidae), an autoinfective and viviparous nematode parasite in the stomach of Cape hyrax (Procavia capensis). Three different larval stages (second-, third- and fourth-stages), and the adult stage were found among the worms collected at necropsy of 3 hosts, which were reared in a zoo in Japan. Molting phases between the larval stages and the final molt to the adult stage were also observed. It was considered that the gravid female delivers the second-stage larva, which develops to the adult stage through 3 molts. The cephalic structure was identical throughout the second to adult stages; all with transparent filaments extending from the mouth. Because starch grains were frequently found attached to the filaments and the worm intestinal lumen also contained starch grains ingested, the filaments were surmised to act as nutrient catchers.

Journal of Parasitology

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