''Pseudoacanthocephalus goodmani'' is a species of

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wo ...

in the

phylum In biology, a phylum (; plural: phyla) is a level of classification or taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, in botany the term division has been used instead of phylum, although the International Code of Nomenclature f ...

Acanthocephala Acanthocephala (Greek , ', thorn + , ', head) is a phylum of parasitic worms known as acanthocephalans, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an eversible proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses to p ...

, first described in 2020. The species is an

intestinal parasite An intestinal parasite infection is a condition in which a parasite infects the gastro-intestinal tract of humans and other animals. Such parasites can live anywhere in the body, but most prefer the intestinal wall. Routes of exposure and infe ...

of the

guttural toad The African common toad or guttural toad (''Sclerophrys gutturalis'') is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Réuni ...

(''Sclerophyrs gutturalis'') but has so far only been found in a single individual that originated from

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, where the toads have been introduced. ''Pseudoacanthocephalus goodmani'' may have a wider host range that extends into other amphibian species in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

which is the source of the toads introduced into Mauritius, further surveys are needed to confirm this. This newly described species of parasite was collected from the faecal pellets of a guttural toad that was a stowaway from Mauritius where it entered

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. The worms were found after the most unusual set of events with the toad surviving a cycle in a washing machine before being discovered by the family that had unwittingly brought it back with them. ''Pseudoacanthocephalus goodmani'' gets its name from the British herpetologist Mark J. Goodman as a dedication to his commitment to amphibian conservation.

References

Echinorhynchidae Animals described in 2020 Fauna of Mauritius Parasites of amphibians {{Acanthocephalan-stub