Angiostoma norvegicum n. sp. (Nematoda: Angiostomatidae) a parasite of arionid slugs in Norway

Abstract

Angiostoma norvegicum n. sp. (Angiostomatidae) is described from the oesophagus, crop and the buccal mass of five species of slugs of the family Arionidae, Arion vulgaris (Moquin-Tandon), Arion ater (L.), Arion fasciatus (Nilsson), Arion fuscus (Müller) and Arion rufus/Arion ater hybrid), collected throughout Norway. Angiostoma norvegicum n. sp. was found parasitising arionids at seven of the 30 sample sites examined (23.3%), and 9.9% of all Arion spp. were infected with this nematode. The new species is characterised by its large size (4.0–8.6 mm long) and in having: lateral alae; 6 + 6 papillae at the cephalic end; a large circular mouth aperture; a spacious stoma; a pharyngeal basal bulb without valvular apparatus; an excretory pore near the base of bulb; a distal part of posterior ovary always outstretched; an anterior ovary distally nearly always outstretched; a vulva situated anterior to mid-body; long, nearly straight spicules and a small gubernaculum; three circumcloacal papillae and caudal genital papillae (GP) arranged in a pattern 1+2/3+3 with GP 5 and GP 8 opened on dorsal side of narrow bursa not reaching tail tip; short conical tails in both sexes with tips supplied by 4 short, unequal denticles. Morphologically, A. norvegicum n. sp. is similar to Angiostoma limacis Dujardin, 1845, which diagnostic characteristics are given based on examination of specimens from Norway and the UK. Conversely, the phylogenetic analyses based on D2D3 large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene sequences performed in the present study did not support the morphological affinity of these two species. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that although Angiostoma spp. cluster together, A. norvegicum n. sp. forms a tight monophyletic clade with the milacid nematode parasites Angiostoma margaretae Ross, Malan & Ivanova, 2011 and Angiostoma milacis Ivanova & Wilson, 2009.

Survey of slug-parasitic nematodes in East and West Flanders, Belgium and description ofAngiostoma gandavensisn. sp. (Nematoda: Angiostomidae) from arionid slugs

“…With the discovery of Angiostoma gandavensis n. sp., the total number of described species of the genus Angiostoma is now 19, of which 15 are described from molluscan hosts (Dujardin, 1845; Mengert, 1953; Morand, 1986, 1988, 1992; Morand and Spiridonov, 1989; Korol and Spiridonov, 1991; Morand and Barker, 1995; Luc et al ., 2005; Ivanova and Wilson, 2009; Ivanova and Spiridonov, 2010; Ross et al ., 2011, 2017). Several traits, such as stoma shape and structure, lateral allae and reproductive systems, have been found to be informative for identification within this genus.…”

“…Spiridonov, 1989; Korol and Spiridonov, 1991;Morand and Barker, 1995;Luc et al, 2005;Ivanova and Wilson, 2009;Ivanova and Spiridonov, 2010;Ross et al, 2011Ross et al, , 2017. Several traits, such as stoma shape and structure, lateral allae and reproductive systems, have been found to be informative for identification within this genus.…”

A Literature Review of Biological and Bio-Rational Control Strategies for Slugs: Current Research and Future Prospects

“…Moreover, international surveys have been conducted in Europe [7], Asia [43], North America [44], Australia [45] and Africa [46] to identify whether nematodes from other families are associated with molluscs as definitive hosts. Overall, it has been reported that nematode species belonging to the following eight families-Agfidae, Alaninematidae Alloionematidae, Angiostomatidae, Cosmocercidae, Diplogasteridae, Mermithidae and Rhabditidae used molluscs as definitive hosts [40,[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65].…”

Nematodes that associate with terrestrial molluscs as definitive hosts, includingPhasmarhabditis hermaphrodita(Rhabditida: Rhabditidae) and its development as a biological molluscicide

“…The Angiostoma genus has 18 known species, whereas Aulacnema is monotypic. Molluscan angiostomatids are obligate parasites of the intestine, hepatopancreas, oesophagus, buccal mass, crop, mantle cavity, salivary gland and pallial cavity (Ross et al ., 2016a, b). In addition to being molluscan angiostomatids, four species have, so far, been isolated from the intestine and bronchi of their amphibian and reptile hosts (Falcón-Ordaz et al , 2008).…”