Oswaldofilaria		Contents		Rev: 05/02/2023
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Oswaldofilaria Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Oswaldofilariidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea

  Chromadoria

   Rhabditida

Spiruria

              Diplotriaenoidea

               Oswaldofilariidae

       Oswaldofilaria Travassos, 1933

Parasites of reptilians.

Oswaldofilaria was separated from the genus Filaria by Travassos (1933) based on morphological differences in the buccal capsule, esophagus, caudal extremity of neatode, ovijector, spicules, caudal papillae of male and position of the vulva (Marinkelle, 1981)..

    Synonyms:
     

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Species identification is based on male characteristics, shape and length of spicules, and arrangement of caudal papillae (see Bursey et al., 2005). Specimens cannot be identified if only females are found (Avila et al., 2011).

• Generally, the esophagus is longer, rarely equal but never shorter in females than in males.
• The species in lizards can be separated first by spicule length ratios: O. azevedoi and O. brevicaudata have 1:2 or less short-to-long spicule ratio; the other species have 1:3 or greater ratios. Oswaldofilaria brevicaudata has 4 large terminal caudal papillae; O. azevedoi has 4 tiny terminal caudal papillae. Oswaldofilaria spinosa has an unpaired median ventral tail papilla, O. belemensis has 4 large terminal caudal papillae, O. petersi has 4 very small terminal caudal papillae (Bursey et al., 2007)

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Distribution:

Eight species of Oswaldofilaria have been identified in Central America: O. bacillaris  and O, medemi in crocodilians; O. carinii in snakes; O. azevedoi, O. belemensis, O. brevicaudata, O. petersi and O. spinosa in lizards  (Bursey et al., 2007).

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Feeding:

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Biology and Ecology:

As an example, in studies of the development in mosquitoes of three Oswaldofilaria species from South American lizards, The development of O. petersi, O. belemensis and O. spinosa is similar to that of O. bacillaris. The nematode larvae are in the adipose tissue of various mosquito species.  The infective stages of nematodes are characterized by:

•  longitudinal ridges in the cuticle,
•  the long tail ended by two lappets,
• the well-developed glandular esophagus,
•  (Bain and Chabaud, 1975).

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Life Cycle:

The life cycles of several species of Oswaldofilaria have been examined (Bain and Chabaud, 1975); mosquito vectors transfer larvae to definitive hosts.

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Avila, R.W., Cardosa, M.W., Oda, F.H., Da Silva, R.J. 2011. Helminths from Lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) at the Cerrado of Goas State, Brazil. Comparative Parasitology, 78:120-128.

Bain, O. Chabaud, A.G. 1975. Developpement chez des moustiques de trois filaires de lezards Sud-Americains du genre Oswaldofilaria. Annales de Parasitologie (Paris), 50:209-221..

Bursey, C.R., Goldberg, S.R., Telford, Jr., S.R. 2007. Gastrointestinal Helminths of 14 Species of Lizards from Panama with Descriptions of Five New Species. Comp. Parasitol. 74:108-140.

Marinkelle, C.J. 1981. Oswaldofilaria medemi n. sp. (Nematoda : Filarioidea), from the smooth-fronted caiman, Paleosuchus trigonatus from Colombia. Rev. Biol. Trop., 29:5-10.

Three new species of Oswaldofilaria  (Nematoda: Diplotriaenidae ) from marine fishes off New Caledonia, with a key to species of Oswaldofilaria  from Anguilliformes

Copyright 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: May 02, 2023.