Cloacina		Contents		Rev 10/04/2024
Hookworm		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Cloacina menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Chabertiidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification

Phylum:  Nematoda
Class:    Chromadorea
Order:    Rhabditida 

Superfamily:  Strongyloidea

Family:  Chabertiidae

Subfamily: Cloacininae

Cloacina von Linstow, 1898

Type species of the genus Cloacina dahli von Linstow, 1898

The generic was provided by von Linstow (1898) who erroneously believed that the female had a  rather than separate openings for the anus and vulva (Beveridge, 1998).

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Species of Cloacina are characterixed by:

•  shallow, cylindrical, heavily sclerotised buccal capsules
• jointed sub-median cephalic papillae. 
• Body lenghts range from 2-35 mm
• Budy with prominent cuticular annulations extending from the cephalic collar to the bursa or tail.
• Cuticle frequently in flated in anterior region.
• Cephalic collar extending from a deep anterior annulation to the mouth opening
• Cephalic collar bears4 sub-medial papillae and two lateral amphids.
• Buccl capsule heavily sclerotized, ring-like, wider than deep
• Leaf crown or corona radiata formedfrom the cuticle lining of the buccal capsule
• Denticles occur in the esophagus in a swelling anterior to the nerve ring and elsewhere in the esophagus, varying among species
• Males with elongate slender spicules an an unornamented bursa; gubernaculum present..
• Female tail slender and conical

The genus is defined by at least two synapomorphies:

1. the presence of bipartite cephalic papillae

2. a leaf crown arising from the internal wall of the buccal capsule.

ref: Beveridge, 1998; Beveridge et al., 2018)

• While the genus is easily defined, there is currently no practical way subdivide tthe group.
•  Useful characters onclude the shape of the cephalic papillae, the shape of the esophagus or the presence of denticles lining the esophagus which separaytes some of the smaller species
• However,  large number of rather similar species are difficult to separate (Beveridge, 1998), molecular means will be important.

Cloacina nike: anterior, lateral view (bar=0.1 mm) adapted from Beveridge (1998).	Cloacina nike 736: cephalic region, lateral; 737: cephalic region dorsal; 738: cephalic region apical; 739: buccal capsule, transverse section; 740: bursa, lateral view. (736-739, bar=0.01mm; 740, bar=0.1mm) adapted from Beveridge (1998).

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

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Distribution

Species of the genus Cloacina occur exclusively in the sacculated forestomachs of marsupials, frequently in large numbers (Beveridge, 1998; Spratt et al. 1991). There are more than 90 described species.

A distinctive feature of the genus is its complexity.  Up to 13 species rhave been recordedi n a single species of kangaroo (Spratt et al. 1991) and up to 10 species being present on some occasions in an individual host animal (Beveridge 1982). The genus has been studied as representing the phenomenon of ‘species flocks’ among parasitic helminths whereby a single species has radiated into many closely-related species that fill differentt ecological roles, rapid adaptive diversification.,

Ecological studies of kangaroo parasites have revealed a significant number of undescribed species (Beveridge, 1998). 

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Economic Importance:

Parasites of marsupials.

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Hosts:

Species of the genus Cloacina have most commonly been identified iin the stomachs of Australian marsupials.

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Feeding

Intestinal parasites of marsupials.

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Life Cycle:

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Damage:

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Management:

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References:

Beveridge, I. (1982). Evolution of the strongyloid nematodes of Australian marsupials. Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, série A, Zoologie 23:87-92.

Beveridge, I. 1998.Taxonomic revision of the genus Cloacina von Linstow (Nematoda : Strongyloidea) from macropodid marsupials. Invertebrate Taxonomy 12:273-508,

Beveridge, I., Jex, A., Tan, N., Jabbar, A. 2018. New species of Cloacina von Linstow, 1898 (Nematoda: Strongyloidea) parasitic in the stomachs of wallaroos, Osphranter spp. (Marsupialia: Macropodidae) from northern Australia. Syst Parasitol. 2018 Jul;95(6):527-542. doi: 10.1007/s11230-018-9798-9.

Spratt, D.M., Beveridge, I., and Walter, E.L. 1991. A catalogue of Australasian monotremes and marsupials and their recorded helminth parasites. Records of the South Australian Museum Monograph Series No. 1, 1-150.

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