New specimens and molecular data provide validation of Apatemon jamiesoni n. sp. (Trematoda: Strigeidae) from water birds in New Zealand

Abstract

A study published in 2016 reported on an undescribed species of Apatemon (Strigeidae) from New Zealand that was previously well known from its larval stages. Only a single specimen from a mallard duck was available at the time, which was described and given the provisional name Apatemon sp. “jamiesoni”. Specimens also obtained from a spotted shag were not in good enough condition to form the basis of a new species description. A black-backed gull has since been discovered with specimens of this strigeid, their identity confirmed by genetic similarity, allowing formal description and naming of this species. This paper provides a description of the new specimens from the black-backed gull, along with a comparison with the specimens from other bird hosts, reprises some data from Blasco-Costa et al. (Parasitol Res 115:271–289, 2016) and presents formally the name Apatemon jamiesonin. sp. This species differs from all other species of Apatemon in its small size, particularly that of the ovary and testes. It is most similar to A. jamesi from which it differs in the size of the oral and ventral suckers.

Gastrointestinal helminths of the Australasian harrier (Circus approximans Peale, 1848) in New Zealand, and description of a new species of nematode, Procyrnea fraseri n. sp. (Habronematidae)

“…Specimens lack the second row of hooks that is characteristic of this genus, but in all other respects conformed to the diagnosis of Cladotaenia, which was supported by molecular evidence. These cestodes were found in birds from all over the southern South Island, and it was conjectured that the intermediate hosts were most likely to be house mice, and may have originated from southern Asia (Presswell & Bennett 2023a).…”

“…approximans in Vanuatu are in the Natural History Museum, London. Apart from these specimens, there are no previous records of any cestode from the Australasian harrier (Presswell & Bennett 2023a).…”