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 Entomelas
ophisauri (Kreis, 1940) comb. nov.
Synonyms: Hexadontophorus ophisauri Kreis, 1940; Entomelas entomelas (Dujardin,
1845) sensu Baker, 1980 (part.).
Host: Ophisaurus apodus (Reptilia: Sauria: Anguidae).
Site: lungs, body cavity.
Distribution: Western and, partially, Central Palaearctic (south-eastern
Europe, Caucasus, West of Central Asia).
Description
[All measurements are in micrometers unless otherwise indicated. The mean value
followed by limits in parentheses is given].
Head end truncate, tail end tapering. Body length 7.94 (6.37 - 9.82) mm, maximum
width 199 (150 - 284). Body cuticle thin, smooth or transversely striated. Buccal
capsule wide, with narrower basal part, 52 (46 - 64) deep and 75 (64 - 84) wide. Teeth
equal in shape and size, situated closer to buccal capsule walls. Oesophagus club-shaped,
0.95 (0.75 - 1.15) mm long (12.1 (8.4 - 15.4) % of body length). Bulb 125 (106 - 148)
wide. Nerve ring at 242 (219 - 284) from anterior end of oesophagus (25.4 (20.0 -
30.6) % of oesophagus length). Excretory pore situated close to the level of nerve
ring posterior edge. Intestine wide in specimens from lungs, comparatively narrower
in specimens from body cavity. Vulva at 4.44 (3.47 - 5.52) mm from anterior end (56.0
(50.4 - 61.3) % of body length). Vulva lips reduced. Uteri elongated. In specimens
from lungs uteri containing numerous (more than 100) eggs with fully developed larvae.
In specimens from body cavity eggs less numerous or absent. Posterior genital tube
bending three times in the region of seminal receptacle (observed in subadult specimens).
Proximal parts of ovaries overlapping level of vulva. Tail elongated, gradually tapering,
419 (348 - 527) long (5.3 (4.1 - 6.7) % of body length). Tail end rounded. Tail curved
dorsally in specimens fixed with cold fixatives.
Biology
Life cycle rhabdiasoid. Free-living larvae containing up to 16 eggs in uteri.
Up to 8 larvae develop inside each female. Infective larvae were able to infect terrestrial
snails Deroceras sp. and Arion sp. (Kuzmin, Sharpilo, 2000). Subadult specimens were
observed in lungs and body cavity of experimentally infected host. Adult specimens
from body cavity are usually enclosed into thin-walled capsules. Arrest of migrating
specimens in body cavity is presumed to be dependent on the intensity of lung infection
by both E. ophisauri and E. kazachstanica individuals.
Entomelas ophisauri, hermaphroditic generation:
A - gravid specimen from the lungs, anterior part of body; B - hypobiotic specimen,
region of posterior seminal receptacle; C - gravid specimen, tail end; D - gravid
specimen, head end, lateral view; E - gravid specimen, head end, subapical view; F
- subgravid specimen, head end, lateral view; G - subgravid specimen, region of anterior
seminal receptacle;- H - subgravid specimen; region of vulva; I - hypobiotic specimen
from the body cavity, region of vulva.
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