Syncuaria

Syncuaria	Contents	Rev: 09/30/2025
	Classification	Biology and Ecology
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Syncuaria Menu		Ecosystem Functions and Services
	Distribution	Management
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Classification:

Chromadorea
Chromadoria
Rhabditida: Spirurina
Acuarioidea
Acuariidae

Syncuaria Gilbert, 1927

Type species of the genus: Syncuaria ciconiae Gilbert, 1927

Synonyms:

Morphology and Anatomy:

Medium sized nematodes.
Lateral alae between anterior part of glandular esophagus to the posterior part of body.
Pseudolabia well developed, with conical apices, each with a pair of large cephalic papillae and 1 inconspicuous amphid.
Cordons narrow, consisting of wide-serrated, crescent-shaped cuticular plates. beginning at dorsal and ventral sides of oral opening and anastomosing on lateral sides immediately anterior to small, bifid cervical papillae.
Cervical papilla 5.7-8.2% of body length from anterior end.
Esophagus with short anterior muscular part and long posterior glandular part. Muscular esophagus, 4.1-5.7% body length (TBL); glandular esophagus, 17.5- 26.6% TBL. Nerve ring located at the level of the anterior end of the muscular esophagus. Excretory pore immediately posterior to nerve ring.

Description adapted from that of Syncuaria mycteriae

Ref: Zhang et al., 2003

Females:

Monodelphic, prodelphic
Vulva with anterior and posterior cuticular inflation, 2.5-2.8% TBL from posterior end.
Ovijector with 2 parts; vagina vera short, vagina uterina longer,
Tail short, 65â€“106 um long, rounded, curved slightly dorsally.
Eggs oval, thick shelled, embryonated

Males:

Posterior end of body curved. Caudal alae well developed, 5.2-5.9% TBL, with irregular dotted ornamentations.
Four pairs of preanal and 5 pairs of postanal pedunculate papillae; sixth pair of postanal papillae sessile, smaller, internal to fifth pair.
Spicules unequal and dissimilar. Left spicule 1.4 -1.6 mm long, slender, with 3 protuberances on distal end; right spicule 152-171 um long, broad with simple distal end. Ratio of right spicule-left spicule 1:9.3.

Ref: Zhang et al., 2003

Syncuaria mycteriae 1. Anterior female, lateral view. 2. Posterior male, lateral view. 3. Tail terminus male, ventral view. 4. Posterior male, lateral with relative lengths of spicules. 5. Distal end of left spicule. 6. Posterior female, lateral view. Bars: 1, 4, 6 5 100 um; 2, 3, 5 5 50 um. Drawings from Zhang et al., 2003

Body size range for the species of this genus in the database - Click:

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Distribution:

Species have been described as parasites of birds in Russia and Eastern Europe, India, Nigeria, DRC, and Costa Rica.

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Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Syncuaria

Parasites of birds, especially storks

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Biology and Ecology:

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Life Cycle:

For Ecophysiological Parameters for this genus, click

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Zhang, L., Brooks, D.R., Causey, D. 2003. A new species of Syncuaria Gilbert, 1927 (Nematoda: Acuarioidea: Acuariidae) in the wood stork, Mucteria americana L. (Aves: Ciconiiformes: Ciconiidae) from the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica. J. Parasitol., 89:1034-1038.