Karyological studies of Trichinella spiralis, T. pseudospiralis, T. nativa and T. nelsoni were undertaken. Comparison of the karyotypes of these Trichinella species showed that the chromosome number of all four species is 2n = 6 for female specimens and 2n = 5 for males. The differences found in the relative chromosome lengths of the individual Trichinella species are not significant. Centromeric index data indicate that T. nativa and T. spiralis have similar centromere dispositions and differ from the other two species by the disposition of the centromere of the first submetacentric chromosome pair. In T. nativa and T. nelsoni the univalent sex chromosome is the second in size. It is slightly submetacentric chromosome, while in T. spiralis and T. pseudospiralis it is the third metacentric chromosome. The data from the karyological investigations may be used as additional karyosystematic characteristics when differentiating the Trichinella species studied.
The genus Notopentorchis includes cestode parasites from swifts (Aves: Apodiformes: Apodidae and Hemiprocnidae). The following species are redescribed: N. micropus, previously known only from its original record from Apus affinis (Apodidae) in India, redescribed on the basis of specimens from the same host species in Gabon (new geographical record); N. vesiculigera, a widespread parasite of Palaearctic swifts, redescribed from A. affinis in Gabon (new host and geographical record); N. javanica and N. bovieni, both redescribed on the basis of their type series from Hemiprocne longipennis (Apodiformes: Hemiprocnidae) from Indonesia. Sphaeruterina caffrapi from Apus caffer from the Republic of South Africa, previously considered a synonym of N. javanica, is validated and transferred to Notopentorchis as N. caffrapi n. comb. Currently, Notopentorchis includes 8 species, all occurring in the Old World. An identification key to the species of Notopentorchis is presented.
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