Dr. Murai Éva - Gubányi András szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 27. (Budapest, 1994)

On the validity of the species considered synonyms of Paracapillaria sonsinoi (Parona, 1897) (Nematoda: Capillariidae) Vulko Y. BlSERKOV

1

, Ferenc MÉSZÁROS

2 and Nesho CHIPEV

1 institute of Parasitology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev Str., Bl. 25, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria, Zoological Department, Hungarian Natural History Museum, 1088, Budapest, Baross u. 13. Hungary (Received 15 June, 1994) Abstract: The revision proposed by Moravec (1986) of the species in the genus Paracapillaria parasitizing snakes is discussed. On the basis of morphological and morphometric differences, host range, localization in the host and geographical distribution it is concluded that there are insufficient grounds for accepting the synonymy suggested by this author. The nematodes Paracapillaria sonsinoi, P. mingazzinii, P. colubra, P. viperae, P. ptyasi, P. xochimilcensis and P. heterodontis are considered to be distinct species within the genus Paracapillaria at present. Keywords: Capillariidae, Paracapillaria, Ophidiocapillaria, taxonomy, synonymy, snakes, Paracapillaria sonsinoi, P. mingazzinii, P. colubra, P. viperae, P. ptyasi, P. xochimilcensis, P. heterodontis. INTRODUCTION Ten nematode species have been described within the genus Paracapillaria, parasitizing mainly the digestive tract of poikilotherm vertebrates (Moravec, 1986). Moravec (1986) revised the genus Paracapillaria and proposed a new subgenus Ophidiocapillaria for species parasitizing snakes. He considered Paracapillaria (Ophidiocapillaria) sonsinoi (Parona, 1897) to be the type species of the new subgenus. Moravec (1986) regarded the following species as synonyms of P. sonsinoi: Trichosoma sonsinoi Parona, 1897, Trichosoma mingazzinii Rizzo, 1902, Capillaria heterodontis Harwood, 1932, C. xochimilcensis Cabalero et Cercero, 1943, Capillaria colubra Pence, 1970, Capillaria ptyasi Wang, 1982 and Paracapillaria viperae Biserkov, Georgievet Genov, 1985. In his monographical work Baker (1987) included T. sonsinoi, T. mingazzinii, C. heterodontis, C. xoehimücensis, C. colubra, C. ptyasi and P. viperae in the genus Capillaria as separate species.