''Ototrema schildti'' is a species of trematode that parasitizes bats.
It was described as a new species in 1978.
''O. schildti'' was first encountered in the
intestine
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...
of a little brown bat in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
Little brown bats have the highest concentration of ''O. schildti'' in September and October.
It can be a locally common parasite; in one population in Wisconsin, 97% of examined little brown bats were parasitized by ''O. schildti'', with one bat containing 623 individuals.
Description
''Ototrema schildti'' has an aspinose body measuring 346 to 421 μm long and 181 to 253 μm wide. The oral sucker is 55 to 71 μm long and 61 to 79 μm wide. When the ventrolateral papillae are viewed at an oblique angle they become conspicuous. The trematode lacks a prepharynx and the pharynx is 11 to 20 μm long and 22 to 25 μm wide. The ceca do not reach the testes. At midlevel the
acetabulum
The acetabulum (), also called the cotyloid cavity, is a concave surface of the pelvis. The head of the femur meets with the pelvis at the acetabulum, forming the hip joint.
Structure
There are three bones of the ''os coxae'' (hip bone) that c ...
measures 55 to 71 μm in diameter. The equatorial and subspherical testes are 44 to 66 μm in diameter. The curved cirrus sac is 80 to 173 μm long and 33 to 52 μm wide. The cirrus sac ranges from dorsal to reaching or overlapping the acetabulum, extends anteriorly to the cecal bifurcation, and recurves towards the genital pore in front of the acetabulum. The cirrus is often extended with long and sharp spines. The
vasa efferentia
The efferent ducts (or efferent ductules or ductuli efferentes or ductus efferentes or vasa efferentia) connect the rete testis with the initial section of the epididymis.Hess 2018
There are two basic designs for efferent ductule structure:
* ...
unite at the base of the cirrus sac to form an internally winding seminal vesicle. The ovoid
ovary
The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...
is 55 to 77 μm long and 40 to 71 μm wide. The ovary has smooth contours and posteriorly tapers towards the oviduct. The seminal recepticale is bipartite and has a long Laurer's canal that rises from the distal ends, extending posteriorly and dorsally. The finely dissected
vitellaria
''Vitellaria paradoxa'' (formerly ''Butyrospermum parkii''), commonly known as shea tree, shi tree (), or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Vitellaria'',