Helminth fauna of Talpa spp. in the Palaearctic Realm

Abstract

The helminth fauna of the genus Talpa in the Palaearctic Realm is reviewed. Several helminth species reported in Talpa spp. by a number of authors are discussed, with reference to host specificity, parasite biology, and host ethology, ecology and phylogeny. Twelve species of cestodes were found, two of which exhibit stenoxenous specificity (Staphylocystis bacillaris and Multitesticulata filamentosa). Only three species of trematodes, Ityogonimus lorum, Ityogonimus ocreatus and Combesia macrobursata, are exclusive parasites of Talpa spp. The largest group are nematodes, with 37 species. Species of Tricholinstowia are parasites of holarctic talpids and several species of distinct genera, such as Capillaria, Soboliphyme and Trichuris, are found only in Talpa spp. Only acanthocephalans of the genus Moniliformis have been reported in moles of the genus Talpa. On the basis of these helminthological findings, the close phylogenetic relationship between moles (Talpidae) and shrews (Soricidae) supports the separation of the ordinal levels Soricomorpha and Erinaceomorpha.

Helminths of the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) (Berkenhout, 1769) in the city of Palermo, Italy

“…The most relevant differences between our study and the papers by Macchioni (1967) and Vanni (1937) are the absence of Strongyloides ratti and Trichosomoides crassicauda, both common species in the helminth fauna of Rattus spp. in other European countries (Feliu et al, 1985a;Feliu et al, 1985b (Ribas et al, 2007), other factors also play a part in this species richness, as can be seen from previous studies in which no correspondence between sample size and number of helminth species was found. The presence of H. diminuta should be noted since it has been reported in all the above-mentioned studies, which suggests a strong association between the host and this parasite.…”

The eclipsing, double-lined, Of supergiant binary Cygnus OB2-B17

“…Figer 2005). Moreover, massive close binaries are the progenitors of such diverse energetic phenomena as supernovae, γ-ray bursts and X-ray binaries (Ribas 2006). Clearly the properties of the progenitor binary population must be known to constrain their formation channels.…”

Masses of the components of SB2 binaries observed with Gaia – I. Selection of the sample and mass ratios of 20 new SB2s discovered with Sophie★

“…Lebreton et al 2001;Ribas 2006;Fernandes et al 2012). Such modelling provides insights on the physical processes governing the structure of the stars and gives constraints on the free physical parameters of the models, provided the masses are known with great accuracy (Lebreton 2005).…”