''Ascocotyle pindoramensis'' is a

fluke Fluke may refer to: Biology * Fluke (fish), a species of marine flatfish * Fluke (tail), the lobes of the tail of a cetacean, such as dolphins or whales, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ...

in the genus '' Ascocotyle'' that occurs along the eastern coast of the Americas from Brazil to Nicaragua, Mexico, Louisiana, and Florida and doubtfully in Egypt.Simões et al., 2006, p. 505 It occurs in the intestine of its definitive hosts. Hosts recorded in the wild include the least bittern (''Ixobrychus exilis''), roseate spoonbill (''Platalea ajaja''),

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...

(''Ardea herodias''), striated heron (''Butorides striatus''), stripe-backed bittern (''Ixobrychus involucris''),

yellow-crowned night heron The yellow-crowned night heron (''Nyctanassa violacea''), is one of two species of night herons found in the Americas, the other one being the black-crowned night heron. It is known as the ''bihoreau violacé'' in French and the ''pedrete corona ...

(''Nyctanassa violacea''),

black-crowned night heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax''), or black-capped night heron, commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and N ...

(''Nycticorax nycticorax''),

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

(''Pandion haliaetus''), Neotropic cormorant (''Phalacrocorax brasilianus''), and

marsh rice rat The marsh rice rat (''Oryzomys palustris'') is a semiaquatic North American rodent in the family Cricetidae. It usually occurs in wetland habitats, such as swamps and salt marshes. It is found mostly in the eastern and southern United States, fr ...

(''Oryzomys palustris''). In the marsh rice rat, it infected 9% of rats examined in a 1970–1972 study in the salt marsh at Cedar Key, Florida, but none in a freshwater marsh.Kinsella, 1988, table 1 ''A. pindoramensis'' has been experimentally introduced into the

domestic duck The domestic duck or domestic mallard (''Anas platyrhynchos domesticus'') is a subspecies of mallard that has been domesticated by humans and raised for meat, eggs, and down feathers. A few are also kept for show, as pets, or for their ornamenta ...

(''Anas platyrhynchos domestica''),

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

(''Gallus gallus domestica''),

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

(''Canis lupus familiaris''),

house mouse The house mouse (''Mus musculus'') is a small mammal of the order Rodentia, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus '' Mus''. Althoug ...

(''Mus musculus''), and

golden hamster The golden hamster or Syrian hamster (''Mesocricetus auratus'') is a rodent belonging to the hamster subfamily, Cricetinae. Their natural geographical range is in an arid region of northern Syria and southern Turkey. Their numbers have been d ...

(''Mesocricetus auratus''). It occurs in various body parts of its

intermediate host In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist ''guest'' (symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include a ...

s—the poeciliid fish '' Phalloptychus januarius'', ''

Poecilia catemaconis ''Poecilia'' is a genus of fishes in the family Poeciliidae of the order Cyprinodontiformes. These livebearers are native to fresh, brackish and salt water in the Americas, and some species in the genus are euryhaline. A few have adapted to livi ...

'', '' Poecilia mexicana'', '' Poecilia mollienisicola'', '' Poecilia vivipara'', and a species of ''

Xiphophorus ''Xiphophorus'' is a genus of euryhaline and freshwater fishes in the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes, native to Mexico and northern Central America. The many ''Xiphophorus'' species are all known as platyfish (or platies) and s ...

'' and the

cichlid Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...

'' Tilapia''. It was first described as ''Pygidiopsis pindoramensis'' in 1928 and subsequently as ''Pseudoascocotyle mollienisicola'' in 1960. The latter species was moved to ''Ascocotyle'' in 1963, but only in 2006 it was recognized that the two represent the same species, which is now known as ''Ascocotyle pindoramensis''. Other flukes from Argentina and Mexico that were identified as ''Pygidiopsis pindoramensis'' instead represent a different species of '' Pygidiopsis''.Simões et al., 2006, p. 501

References

Literature cited

*Kinsella, J.M. 1988. Comparison of helminths of rice rats, ''Oryzomys palustris'', from freshwater and saltwater marshes in Florida. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington 55(2):275–280. *Simões, S.B.E., Scholz, T., Barbosa, H.S. and Santos, C.P. 2006
Taxonomic status, redescription, and surface ultrastructure of ''Ascocotyle (Phragicola) pindoramensis'' n. comb. (Digenea: Heterophyidae)
(subscription required). Journal of Parasitology 92(3):501–508. *Travassos, L. 1928. Sur une nouvelle espèce du genre ''Pygidiopsis'', ''Pygidiopsis pindoramensis'' n. sp. (Trematoda). Comptes Rendus de la Société de Biologie, Paris 100:956–957 (in French). {{Taxonbar, from=Q4803976 Ascocotyle Parasites of birds Parasites of rodents

See also

References

Literature cited