Journal highlights
- Journal made by "PARASITOLOGISTS for PARASITOLOGISTS"
- IN-HOUSE production with careful revision & proof-reading
- Increase of APC from January 1, 2025
- Current ISI Impact Factor: IF 2025 = 2.0
- Current volume: 73: 2026
- Special Issue: Three Decades of Latent Toxoplasmosis
- Published since 1954 – freely available!
International journal that covers all branches of animal parasitology, including morphology, taxonomy, biology, biochemistry, physiology, immunology and molecular biology of parasites, host-parasite relationships and parasite evolution.
Special Issue: Three Decades of Latent Toxoplasmosis
Flegr J., Ullmann J., Španiel F., Toman J., Hůla M., Šebánková B., Petrusová J., Novotný P., Včelák J., Kaňková Š. 2026: Does latent Toxoplasma infection mimic the immune profile of schizophrenia? Sex-specific cytokine and brain-marker alterations suggest partial overlap. Special Issue on Toxoplasmosis. Folia Parasitol. 73: 006
Webster J.P. 2025: Who makes the decisions? Uncovering the evolutionary implications and clinical applications of Toxoplasma gondii’s Fatal Feline Attraction. Special Issue on Toxoplasmosis. Folia Parasitol. 72: 016
Postolache T.T. 2025: Toxoplasma gondii and suicidal behaviour: discovery, cross-diagnostic confirmation and pathway exploration. Special Issue on Toxoplasmosis. Folia Parasitol. 72: 025.
Catchpole A., Zabriskie B.N., Embley B., Kharazi H., Clarke R., Templeton G., Hunt C., Gale S.D., Hedges D.W. 2025: Association between type-2 diabetes and Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Special Issue on Toxoplasmosis. Folia Parasitol. 72: 024.
Postolache T.T., Duncan E., Yen P., Potocki E., Barnhart M., Federline A., Massa N., Dagdag A., Joseph J., Wadhawan A., Capan C., Forton C., Lowry C.A., Ortmeyer H.K., Brenner L.A. 2025: Toxoplasma gondii, suicidal behavior and suicide risk factors in US Veterans enrolled in mental health treatment. Special Issue on Toxoplasmosis. Folia Parasitol. 72: 002.
Flegr J. 2025: Thirty years of studying latent toxoplasmosis: behavioural, physiological, and health insights: description of a struggle. Special Issue on Toxoplasmosis. Folia Parasitol. 72: 005.
Vyas A. 2024: Nuts and bolts of the behavioural manipulation by Toxoplasma gondii. Special Issue on Toxoplasmosis. Folia Parasitol. 71: 017.
Latifi A., Flegr J., Kaňková Š. 2025: Re-assessing host manipulation in Toxoplasma: the underexplored role of sexual transmission – evidence, mechanisms, implications. Special Issue on Toxoplasmosis. Folia Parasitol. 72: 015.
Torrey E.F. 2024: The linking of toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia. Folia Parasitol. 71: 016.
Ullmann J., Flegr J., Nouzová K., Včelák J., Kaňková Š. 2025: Chronic inflammation in pregnant women with latent toxoplasmosis and explanation of discordant results of serological tests for toxoplasmosis. Special Issue on Toxoplasmosis. Folia Parasitol. 72: 021.
Tautanova A., Kiyan V., Dusmagambetov M., Almysheva T.A., Dusmagambetova A. 2026: Three decades of research on molecular genetic characteristics of Echinococcus spp.: a bibliometric study. Folia Parasitol. 73: 001.
Folia Parasitologica - Most viewed articles
Results 661 to 690 of 3110:
Functional and phylogenetic components in cercarial nervous systems
Tami Bogéa
Folia Parasitologica 51[4] 311-319 (2004) 
Studies involving comparisons of taxa that vary in their degree of relatedness may allow the distinction of functional and phylogenetic components in cercarial sensory systems. In this study, cercariae of allocreadiids Bunodera Railliet, 1896 and Crepidostomum Braun, 1900, lecithodendriid Allassogonoporus Olivier, 1938 and opecoelid Allopodocotyle Pritchard, 1966 were compared as regards ultrastructure and chaetotaxy of sensory receptors as well as neuromorphology. Cercariae were treated with acetylthiocholine iodide and silver nitrate and some were processed for scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The types of...
The First United Workshop on Microsporidia from Invertebrate and Vertebrate Hosts
Louis M. Weiss
Folia Parasitologica 52[1/2] 1-7 (2005) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2005.001
The phylum Microsporidia is a large group of parasitic unicellular eukaryotes that infect a wide range of invertebrate and vertebrate taxa. These organisms are significant human and veterinary pathogens with impacts on medicine, agriculture and aquaculture. Scientists working on these pathogens represent diverse disciplines that have had limited opportunities for detailed interactions. A NATO Advanced Research Workshop 'Emergent Pathogens in the 21st Century: First United Workshop on Microsporidia from Invertebrate and Vertebrate Hosts' was held July 12-15, 2004 at the Institute of Parasitology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic to bring...
Post-genomics of microsporidia, with emphasis on a model of minimal eukaryotic proteome: a review
Catherine Texier, Damien Brosson, Hicham El Alaoui, Guy Méténier, Christian P. Vivarès
Folia Parasitologica 52[1/2] 15-22 (2005) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2005.003
The genome sequence of the microsporidian parasite Encephalitozoon cuniculi Levaditi, Nicolau et Schoen, 1923 contains about 2,000 genes that are representative of a non-redundant potential proteome composed of 1,909 protein chains. The purpose of this review is to relate some advances in the characterisation of this proteome through bioinformatics and experimental approaches. The reduced diversity of the set of E. cuniculi proteins is perceptible in all the compilations of predicted domains, orthologs, families and superfamilies, available in several public databases. The phyletic patterns of orthologs for seven eukaryotic organisms...
Public health importance of Brachiola algerae (Microsporidia) - an emerging pathogen of humans
Govinda S. Visvesvara, Hercules Moura, Gordon J. Leitch, David A. Schwartz, Lihua X. Xiao
Folia Parasitologica 52[1/2] 83-94 (2005) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2005.011
Brachiola algerae (Vavra et Undeen, 1970), a parasite of Anopheles mosquitoes, has also been isolated from a human cornea, a cutaneous nodule and deep muscle tissue. All three human isolates of B. algerae are morphologically, serologically, and genetically similar to the mosquito-derived isolates including the original isolate of Vavra and Undeen. All of these isolates grew well in mammalian cell cultures at 37°C and produced spores. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that all developmental stages including meronts, sporoblasts and spores were diplokaryotic and developed in direct contact with the host cell cytoplasm, a...
Influence of latent "asymptomatic" toxoplasmosis on body weight of pregnant women
Jaroslav Flegr, Štěpánka Hrdá, Petr Kodym
Folia Parasitologica 52[3] 199-204 (2005) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2005.026
The latent toxoplasmosis is usually considered to be asymptomatic, however, this paradigm has never been rigorously tested. Here we searched for symptoms of deterioration of physical health (decrease of weight) in infected people by analysis of clinical records of 758 women tested for toxoplasmosis in the 16th week of gravidity. Toxoplasma-positive women have a lower body weight in the 16th week of gravidity (p = 0.02) than Toxoplasma-negative women. Moreover, a negative correlation between weight and the duration of toxoplasmosis was found in a subset of 174 Toxoplasma-positive women (p = 0.04), suggesting that slow and cumulative...
Supplemental diagnosis and molecular taxonomy of Myxobolus diaphanus (Fantham, Porter et Richardson, 1940) (Myxozoa) parasitizing Fundulus diaphanus (Cyprinodontiformes) in Nova Scotia, Canada
David K. Cone, Russell H. Easy
Folia Parasitologica 52[3] 217-222 (2005) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2005.029
Myxobolus diaphanus (Fantham, Porter et Richardson, 1940) was found in banded killifish Fundulus diaphanus (Lesueur) at several freshwater localities in Nova Scotia, including the type locality at the mouth of the Salmon River, Guysborough County. The new material, the first to be reported in 64 years, was used to supplement information on spore morphology, to document the site of development in the tissue, and to compare sequence data of the 18S rDNA to other studied myxobolids. Plasmodia with developed spores occurred in loose connective tissue of the head, the dermis (particularly in the roof of the mouth and at the base of fins),...
Branchotenthes octohamatus sp. n. (Monogenea: Hexabothriidae) from the gills of the southern fiddler ray, Trygonorrhina fasciata (Rhinobatidae) in South Australia: description of adult and larva
Vanessa Glennon, Leslie A. Chisholm, Ian D. Whittington
Folia Parasitologica 52[3] 223-230 (2005) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2005.030
Branchotenthes octohamatus sp. n. (Monogenea: Hexabothriidae) is described from the gills of the southern fiddler ray, Trygonorrhina fasciata Müller et Henle (Elasmobranchii: Rhinobatidae), off Adelaide, South Australia. It is distinguished from the type species, Branchotenthes robinoverstreeti Bullard et Dippenaar, 2003, by producing eggs that are joined end to end forming a chain, in the morphology of the male copulatory organ that has a pronounced constriction in duct diameter between proximal and distal regions, the possession of a thin muscular layer surrounding the proximal part of the male copulatory organ and distal region...
Intraerythrocytic merogony in Haemogregarina koppiensis (Apicomplexa: Adeleorina: Haemogregarinidae)
Nico J. Smit, Angela J. Davies
Folia Parasitologica 52[3] 277-278 (2005) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2005.037
During October 2003, a specimen of Amblyrhynchotes honckenii (Bloch, 1795) was captured at low tide, with a hand net, in a rock pool at Koppie Alleen, De Hoop Nature Reserve, South Africa. This fish was heavily parasitized by unidentified gnathiid praniza larvae, caligid copepods identified as Caligus tetrodontis Barnard, 1948, cymothoid isopods identified as Cinusa tetrodontis (Schioedte et Meinert, 1884), and the blood protozoan Haemogregarina koppiensis Smit et Davies, 2001. Giemsa-stained blood smears from this fish revealed new and unusual stages of merogony for H. koppiensis that included small, rounded, likely...
Fine structure of the female reproductive ducts of Cyathocephalus truncatus (Cestoda: Spathebothriidea), from salmonid fish
Larisa G. Poddubnaya, John S. Mackiewicz, Magdaléna Bruňanská, Tomáš Scholz
Folia Parasitologica 52[4] 323-338 (2005) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2005.045
The fine structure of the ovary, ovicapt, oviduct, fertilisation canal, vitelline ducts, vitelline reservoir, ovovitelline duct, ootype and Mehlis' gland, and proximal, middle and distal parts of the uterus of the spathebothriidean cestode, Cyathocephalus truncatus (Pallas, 1781), from salmoniform fish, has been studied for the first time by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Emphasis was given to characteristics which might shed light on the unclarified phylogenetic position of spathebothriideans, belonging among the most basal tapeworms (Eucestoda). New for cestodes is the finding of a multinucleate cell that plugs the ovicapt lumen....
The handling and fate of spermatophores in Neoentobdella diadema and N. apiocolpos (Monogenea: Capsalidae: Entobdellinae)
Graham C. Kearn, Ian D. Whittington, Louis Euzet
Folia Parasitologica 53[1] 57-62 (2006) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2006.005
The elongated encased spermatophores of the capsalid (entobdelline) monogeneans Neoentobdella diadema (Monticelli, 1902) Kearn et Whittington, 2005 and N. apiocolpos (Euzet et Maillard, 1967) Kearn et Whittington, 2005 have been found attached by their proximal ends to the region of the vaginal opening, with the bulk of the spermatophore projecting from the vagina and therefore lying outside the body. In spite of previous reports, no spermatophores were found projecting from the common genital opening and if spermatophore exchange is as rapid as it is in the related entobdelline Entobdella soleae, then the chances of finding a...
Psettarium anthicum sp. n. (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae) from the heart of cobia Rachycentron canadum (Rachycentridae) in the northern Gulf of Mexico
Stephen A. Bullard, Robin M. Overstreet
Folia Parasitologica 53[2] 117-124 (2006) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2006.015
Psettarium anthicum sp. n. (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae) infects the myocardium and atrial wall of the cobia Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus, 1766) (Rachycentridae) in the northern Gulf of Mexico off Mississippi, USA. It is the first member of Psettarium Goto et Ozaki, 1930 reported from other than the Indian Ocean or Pacific Ocean and the second species of the genus reported from cobia. It differs from its congeners by the combination of having posterior caeca with lateral projections appearing as thorns in lateral view and the male pore anterior to the oötype. The species of Psettarium, P. japonicum (Goto et Ozaki,...
Ophiotaenia bonneti sp. n. (Eucestoda: Proteocephalidea), a parasite of Rana vaillanti (Anura: Ranidae) in Costa Rica
Alainde Chambrier, Sandrine C. Coquille, Daniel R. Brooks
Folia Parasitologica 53[2] 125-133 (2006) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2006.016
Ophiotaenia bonneti sp. n. is described from the intestine of the frog Rana vaillanti Brocchi, 1877 (Anura: Ranidae) from San Gerardo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The new species is characterized by the testes 100-177 in number, the genital pores situated anteriorly, the osmoregulatory canals overlapping the testis field, the cirrus pouch length as 15-24% of proglottis width, and the uterus with 18-32 ramified diverticula on each side. It differs from the 23 known species of the genus Ophiotaenia La Rue, 1911, parasitic in amphibians, by one to several morphological characters. It differs from O. gracilis Jones, Cheng et Gillespie,...
Monostephanostomum nolani sp. n. and M. krusei Reimer, 1983 (Digenea: Acanthocolpidae) from carangid fishes from coral reef waters off Australia
Rodney A. Bray, Thomas H. Cribb
Folia Parasitologica 54[1] 19-26 (2007) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2007.003
Monostephanostomum nolani sp. n. is described from Carangoides plagiotaenia Bleeker, off Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. It differs from all other species in the genus except M. manteri Kruse, 1979 in that the vitellarium reaches into the forebody. It differs from M. manteri in the ventral hiatus in the circum-oral spine row, the extent of the vitellarium in the forebody, where it is not confluent, its elongate pharynx and its smaller eggs. Monostephanostomum krusei Reimer, 1983 is redescribed from Pseudocaranx dentex (Bloch et Schneider) from Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia. It...
Polylabris lingaoensis sp. n. and Polylabris cf. mamaevi Ogawa et Egusa, 1980 (Monogenoidea: Microcotylidae) from perciform fishes in the Gulf of Tonkin, South China Sea
Yang Tingbao, Delane C. Kritsky, Pan Jun
Folia Parasitologica 54[1] 27-33 (2007) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2007.004
Polylabris lingaoensis sp. n. is described from the gills of the bald glassy, Ambassis gymnocephalus (Chandidae), from the Gulf of Tonkin (South China Sea), near Lingao, Hainan Province, China. The new species is characterized by a midventral vaginal pore, comparatively few (5-7) testes, and 2 parallel rows each comprised of 30-43 microcotylid clamps in the haptor. Polylabris lingaoensis is the only member of the genus known to parasitize a chandid host. Polylabris cf. mamaevi is described from the gills of the mottled spinefoot, Siganus fuscescens (Siganidae), from the South China Sea, which represents new...
The occurrence of the avian schistosome Allobilharzia visceralis Kolářová, Rudolfová, Hampl et Skírnisson, 2006 (Schistosomatidae) in the tundra swan, Cygnus columbianus (Anatidae), from North America
Sara V. Brant
Folia Parasitologica 54[2] 99-104 (2007) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2007.013
Twelve tundra swans, Cygnus columbianus (Ord), from Nevada and one from New Mexico were collected and examined for schistosomes. Mature worms, determined as Allobilharzia visceralis, were found in 92% of the swans, in the inferior mesenteric vein of the large intestine and its branches. In 12 cases, there was endophlebitis of the inferior mesenteric vein. The morphology of the worms is consistent with the recently described genus Allobilharzia. Placement in this genus was confirmed also by phylogenetic analysis of nuclear 28S, 18S and, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) ribosomal DNA (rDNA), and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase...
Effects of interferon gamma and specific polyclonal antibody on the infection of murine peritoneal macrophages and murine macrophage cell line PMJ2-R with Encephalitozoon cuniculi
Jiří Jelínek, Jiří Salát, Bohumil Sak, Jan Kopecký
Folia Parasitologica 54[3] 172-176 (2007) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2007.024
Experimental activation of peritoneal macrophages by interferon gamma (IFN-γ) resulted in the inhibition of Encephalitozoon cuniculi replication. However, E. cuniculi could replicate either in a non-activated cell line of murine macrophages PMJ2-R or in IFN-γ-activated PMJ2-R cells. Moreover, activation with IFN-γ led to faster replication of E. cuniculi in these cells. Opsonisation of E. cuniculi spores with anti-E. cuniculi polyclonal antibody did not affect E. cuniculi replication in both, non-activated and activated murine macrophages. In contrast, opsonisation of E. cuniculi spores...
Three species of Calydiscoides (Monogenea: Diplectanidae) from five Lethrinus spp. (Lethrinidae: Perciformes) off New Caledonia, with a description of Calydiscoides terpsichore sp. n.
Guilhem Rascalou, Jean-Lou Justine
Folia Parasitologica 54[3] 191-202 (2007) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2007.026
Numerous specimens of Calydiscoides spp. from Lethrinus nebulosus and L. harak, and fewer specimens from L. lentjan, L. ravus and L. obsoletus, collected off New Caledonia, South Pacific, were examined. Three species of Calydiscoides were recognized. Calydiscoides difficilis (Yamaguti, 1953) Young, 1969 was generally the most abundant species on the five hosts. Specimens of C. difficilis were measured and compared to the type specimens (from Indonesia) and museum vouchers (from Australia and the Arabian Gulf). The morphology of the massive male copulatory organ and of haptoral sclerotized...
Cucullanus pargi sp. n. (Nematoda: Cucullanidae) from the grey snapper Lutjanus griseus off the southern coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico
David González-Solís, Vielka M. Tuz-Paredes, Miguel A. Quintal-Loria
Folia Parasitologica 54[3] 220-224 (2007) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2007.030
A new nematode species, Cucullanus pargi sp. n., is described from the intestine and pyloric caeca of the grey snapper, Lutjanus griseus (Linnaeus), off the southern Quintana Roo coast, Mexico. This species shows similar morphological features as cucullanids occurring in marine and brackish-water fishes; however, it differs from all other species in the length of spicules, arrangement and number of caudal papillae, position of the excretory pore and deirids. Cucullanus pargi is the third species of this genus described from fishes in Mexico and the second one from Mexican marine fishes.
First experimental observations on the development of Rhabdochona denudata (Nematoda: Rhabdochonidae) in the intermediate host
František Moravec
Folia Parasitologica 54[3] 236-238 (2007) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2007.032
Two species of mayfly nymphs, Habroleptoides modesta (Hagen) and Habrophlebia lauta (Eaton) (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae), were found as suitable experimental intermediate hosts of the fish nematode Rhabdochona denudata (Dujardin, 1845) (Rhabdochonidae), an intestinal parasite of Palaearctic cyprinids. The parasite's eggs were obtained from nematode gravid females parasitizing the European chub, Leuciscus cephalus (L.), of the Rokytná River, Czech Republic. At the water temperature of 9°C, the eggs of R. denudata were ingested by the intermediate host and the hatched, toothed (with a minute cephalic boring tooth)...
Detection of Anaplasma DNA in Ixodes ricinus ticks: pitfalls
Silvie Šikutová, Ivo Rudolf, Maryna Golovchenko, Nataliia Rudenko, Libor Grubhoffer, Zdeněk Hubálek
Folia Parasitologica 54[4] 310-312 (2007) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2007.040
A total of 150 nymphal Ixodes ricinus (L., 1758) (Acari: Ixodidae) from the Czech Republic were examined for Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Foggie, 1949) Dumler et al., 2001 by PCR using EHR521/747 primers: 22 of 50 pools were positive (minimum prevalence, 14.7%). However, sequencing of the PCR products did not show complete homology with A. phagocytophilum (91%) while the closest relationship (95%) was found to "Candidatus Ehrlichia walkerii". The results indicate a need for care in interpretation of Anaplasma PCR results and for PCR optimization for detecting A. phagocytophilum in ticks.
Rodents as intermediate hosts of Hepatozoon ayorgbor (Apicomplexa: Adeleina: Hepatozoidae) from the African ball python, Python regius?
Michal Sloboda, Martin Kamler, Jana Bulantová, Jan Votýpka, David Modrý
Folia Parasitologica 55[1] 13-16 (2008) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2008.003
Two experimental trials were performed to elucidate the role of rodents in the life cycle of Hepatozoon species using snakes as intermediate hosts. In one trial, two ball pythons, Python regius Shaw, 1802 were force fed livers of laboratory mice previously inoculated with sporocysts of Hepatozoon ayorgbor Sloboda, Kamler, Bulantová, Votýpka et Modrý, 2007. Transmission was successful in these experimentally infected snakes as evidenced by the appearance of intraerythrocytic gamonts, which persisted until the end of trial, 12 months after inoculation. Developmental stages of haemogregarines were not observed in histological sections...
Bothriocephalidean tapeworms (Cestoda) from the blackfish, Centrolophus niger (Perciformes: Centrolophidae)
Roman Kuchta, Tomáš Scholz, Jan Brabec, Dagmar Jirsová, Andrea Gustinelli
Folia Parasitologica 55[2] 111-121 (2008) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2008.015
Bothriocephalidean tapeworms parasitic in the blackfish, Centrolophus niger (Gmelin) (Perciformes: Centrolophidae), are redescribed on the basis of the evaluation of freshly collected specimens and museum material. This evaluation enabled us to supplement species diagnoses by new morphological characters of potential use for phylogenetic analyses, including the data from scanning electron microscopical observations, and to provide a key to identification of the following four species occurring in this fish: Amphicotyle heteropleura (Diesing, 1850); Milanella familiaris Kuchta et Scholz, 2008 (both Triaenophoridae); Bothriocotyle...
Two new nematode species, Paragendria papuanensis sp. n. (Seuratoidea) and Rhabdochona papuanensis sp. n. (Thelazioidea), from freshwater fishes in Papua New Guinea
František Moravec, Milan Říha, Roman Kuchta
Folia Parasitologica 55[2] 127-135 (2008) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2008.017
Two new nematode species, Paragendria papuanensis sp. n. (Quimperiidae) and Rhabdochona papuanensis sp. n. (Rhabdochonidae), are described from the intestine of freshwater fishes Glossamia gjellerupi (Weber et Beaufort) (Apogonidae) and Melanotaenia affinis (Weber) (Melanotaeniidae), respectively, from the Sogeram River (Ramu River basin), Madang Province, northern Papua New Guinea. The former species is characterized mainly by the absence of oesophageal teeth, the presence of conspicuously inflated papillae of the last two subventral pairs, a gubernaculum, spicules 69-75 µm long, eggs measuring 57-66 × 39-45 µm,...
New species of Diplectanum (Monogenoidea: Diplectanidae), and proposal of a new genus of the Dactylogyridae from the gills of gerreid fishes (Teleostei) from Mexico and Panama
Edgar F. Mendoza Franco, Dominique G. Roche, Mark E. Torchin
Folia Parasitologica 55[3] 171-179 (2008) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2008.024
While investigating the parasites of several marine fishes from the Western Atlantic, the Southern Gulf of Mexico and Central America (Panama), the following monogenoidean species from the gills of gerreid fishes (Gerreidae) were found: Diplectanum gatunense sp. n. (Diplectanidae) and Octouncuhaptor eugerrei gen. et sp. n. (Dactylogyridae) in Eugerres brasilianus (Cuvier) from Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal Watershed, and Diplectanum mexicanum sp. n. in Diapterus rhombeus (Cuvier) from the coast of Campeche State, Mexico. New diplectanid species are distinguished from other species of the genus by the general morphology...
Community structure, population structure and topographical specialisation of Gyrodactylus (Monogenea) ectoparasites living on sympatric stickleback species
Joost A.M. Raeymaekers, Tine Huyse, Hannelore Maelfait, Bart Hellemans, Filip A.M. Volckaert
Folia Parasitologica 55[3] 187-196 (2008) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2008.026
In order to disentangle the contribution of host and parasite biology to host specificity, we compared the structure and population dynamics of the Gyrodactylus (von Nordmann, 1832) flatworm community living on sympatric three-spined Gasterosteus aculeatus L. and nine-spined Pungitius pungitius (L.) stickleback. Between April 2002 and March 2003, a small lowland creek was sampled monthly. Species identity of about 75% of the worms per host was determined with a genetic nuclear marker (ITS1). Each stickleback species hosted a characteristic gill- and fin-parasitic Gyrodactylus: G. arcuatus Bychowsky, 1933 and G....
Early development of the myxozoan Buddenbrockia plumatellae in the bryozoans Hyalinella punctata and Plumatella fungosa, with comments on taxonomy and systematics of the Myxozoa
Elizabeth U. Canning, Alan Curry, Beth Okamura
Folia Parasitologica 55[4] 241-255 (2008) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2008.032
We undertook a detailed ultrastructural investigation to gain insight into the early stages of development of the vermiform myxozoan, Buddenbrockia plumatellae Schröder, 1910 in two bryozoan hosts. Early cell complexes arise in the peritoneum after division and migration of isolated cells in the host body wall. The development of cell junctions linking the outer (mural) cells of the complex then produces a sac enclosing a mass of inner cells. Elongation to the vermiform stage (myxoworm) occurs during multiplication and reorganisation of the inner cells as a central core within the single-layered sac wall. The core cells develop into muscle and...
Microhabitat selection of Discocotyle sagittata (Monogenea: Polyopisthocotylea) in farmed rainbow trout
Miguel Rubio-Godoy
Folia Parasitologica 55[4] 270-276 (2008) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2008.035
Microhabitat preference of the monogenean Discocotyle sagittata (Leuckart, 1842) was determined in late spring and late autumn in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), reared in the Isle of Man, UK. Discocotyle sagittata exhibits a preference for attachment to anterior gill arches: 29% of all worms occurred on gill arch I, 28% on II, 25% on III and 18% on IV. This distribution pattern on the introduced salmonid species is the same as reported for its native European host, the brown trout Salmo trutta (L.). Previous experimental work suggested that invasion is a passive process followed by post-invasion migration...
Three Dendromonocotyle species (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) reported from captive rays, including D. lotteri sp. n. from Himantura gerrardi (Elasmobranchii: Dasyatidae) in the public aquarium at the Atlantis resort, Dubai
David B. Vaughan, Leslie A. Chisholm
Folia Parasitologica 56[2] 99-106 (2009) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2009.015
Dendromonocotyle lotteri sp. n. is described from the dorsal skin surface of the stingray Himantura gerrardi (Gray) on exhibit in the public aquarium at the Atlantis resort in Dubai. It is differentiated from all other Dendromonocotyle species by the unique morphology of the distal portion of the sclerotised male copulatory organ. Dendromonocotyle lotteri is the second representative in the genus with 56 marginal haptoral papillae having a papillae to loculus association represented numerically as 6-6-8-8. We found Dendromonocotyle colorni Chisholm, Whittington et Kearn, 2001 on the same host specimens at the Atlantis...
Redescription of Gessyella latridopsis (Johnston et Mawson, 1945) (Nematoda: Capillariidae), a parasite of latrid fishes from the Southern Hemisphere
María Alejandra Rossin, Juan Tomás Timi
Folia Parasitologica 56[3] 194-198 (2009) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2009.024
The type species of the monotypic genus Gessyella Freitas, 1959, G. latridopsis (Johnston et Mawson, 1945) (Nematoda: Capillariidae), is redescribed from specimens found in the rectum of the marine fish Nemadactylus bergi Norman (Latridae, Perciformes) (a new host record) from the southwestern Atlantic Ocean off Mar del Plata, Argentina. In addition to the morphological and biometrical variability of this species, some new, previously unreported taxonomic features, such as the extent of the spination of the spicular sheath, the morphology of the spicular canal, the distal end of the spicule, the ejaculatory duct, the cloaca, the...
CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells prevent the development of Th1 immune response by inhibition of dendritic cell function during the early stage of Plasmodium yoelii infection in susceptible BALB/c mice
Wei Zheng, Qing-hui Wang, Hui Feng, Jun Liu, Hong-rui Meng, Ya-ming Cao
Folia Parasitologica 56[4] 242-250 (2009) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2009.028
Protective immunity against murine malaria infection depends largely on the establishment of effective Th1 immune response during the early stages of infection. Experimental data suggest that the death of Plasmodium yoelii 17XL (P.y 17XL) susceptible BALB/c mice results from the suppression of Th1 immune response mediated by CD4+CD25+Foxp3+regulatory T cells (Tregs). However, the mechanism by which Tregs regulate Th1 immune response is poorly understood. Since immunity is initiated by dendritic cells (DCs), we analysed DC responses to P.y 17XL in control and Treg-depleted BALB/c mice. Myeloid DC proliferation, phenotypic maturation...