the & the in the gut of the a H

T H E ASSIGNMENT OF HEPATOZOON MAURITANICUM,

A TICK-TRANSMITTED PARASITE OF TORTOISE, TO THE GENUS HEMOLIVIA

LANDAU I.* & PAPERNA I.**

S u m m a r y :

Following α new examination of material from E. Brumpt's collection with stages of Hepatozoon mauritanicum, a Hemogregarin from the north african tortoise Testudo graeca, in the vector, Hyalomma aegyptium, the taxonomic status of the parasite was revised and the latter was assigned to the genus Hemolivia.

KEY WORDS : Hepatozoon mauritanicum, Hemolivia mauritanica, taxonomic status.

Résumé :

l'hémogrégarine de la tortue nord-africaine Testudo graeca, le statut taxonomique du parasite est révisé et celui-ci est placé dans le genre Hemolivia.

MOTS CLÉS : Hepatozoon mauritanicum, Hemolivia mauritanica, statut taxonomique.

H

mogregarina mauritanica Sergent & Sergent, 1 9 0 4 . Stages redescribed b y Michel w e r e reinterpreted in the light o f recent descriptions o f s p e c i e s assigned to the genus, Hemolivia :

— Hemolivia stellata, a toad (Bufo marinas) hemo- gregarinid developing in the gut of the tick Amblyomma rotundatum (Petit et al., 1990);

— Hemolivia mariae from the sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) and the tick A. limbatum (see Smallridge &

Paperna, same issue).

The genus Hemolivia is characterized by a double cycle in the intestinal cells o f the vector: oocysts w h i c h pro­

d u c e , w h e n mature, large numbers o f sporokinetes

* Laboratoire de Biologie parasitaire (ERS 156) et Laboratoire de Pro­

tozoologie et Parasitologie comparée (EPHE). Muséum national d'his­

toire naturelle, 61, rue Buffon, 75231 Paris cedex 05.

** Department o f Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture o f the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76 100 Israel.

Correspondence : I. Landau.

Tel. : 33 1 40 79 35 03.

w h i c h b e c o m e free a n d invade n e w cells o f the intes­

tine o f t h e tick; a s e c o n d division o c c u r s with pro­

duction o f sporocysts filled with sporozoites. T h e t w o s p e c i e s m e n t i o n e d a b o v e had in addition very cha­

racteristic star s h a p e d oocysts.

In the material o f E. Brumpt w e o b s e r v e d in the intes­

tinal c e l l s , o o c y s t s , s p o r o k i n e t e s a n d s p o r o c y s t s c o n t a i n i n g s p o r o z o i t e s , characteristic o f t h e g e n u s Hemolivia. However, although the oocysts w e r e irre­

gular in outline, n o definite stellate shape, as s e e n in other s p e c i e s o f Hemolivia, w a s observed.

In the b l o o d o f the tortoise, as in the toad, in addi­

tion to gametocytes, shizonts a n d cysts with o n e cys- tozoite, w e r e also observed.

It appears that h a e m o g r e g a r i n e s developing in ticks differ distinctly, from those o f the genus Hepatozoon, developing in dipteran insect hosts. Such divergence has also b e e n suggested from a phylogenetic analysis d o n e b y Smith & Desser (in press) showing closer phy- letic proximity b e t w e e n Hep. lygosomarum, a skink and mite s p e c i e s a n d Hep. mauritanicum, than with the rest o f t h e h a e m o g r e g a r i n e s .

TAXONOMIC STATUS

Haemolivia mauritanica (Sergent & Sergent, 1 9 0 4 ) η . c o m b .

Syn. Haemogregarina mauritanica (Sergent & Ser­

gent, 1 9 0 4 ) , Hepatozoon mauritanicum (Sergent &

Sergent, 1 9 0 4 ) , Michel, 1 9 7 3 . Parasite, 1997, 4, 365-367

Note de recherche ³⁶⁵

Article available athttp://www.parasite-journal.orgorhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1051/parasite/1997044365

LANDAU I. & PAPERNA I.

Fig. 1-7 — S p o r o g o n y o f Hemolivia mauritanica in t h e intestinal cells o f the tick Hyalomma aegyptium.

1: y o u n g o o c y s t s a n d s p o r o k i n e t e s ( a r r o w ) ; 2, 3: i m m a t u r e o o c y s t s with c y t o p l a s m i c p r o t u s i o n s at t h e p e r i p h e r y ; 4: i m m a ­ ture o o c y s t with p e r i p h e r a l a r r a n g e m e n t o f n u c l e i a n d n u m e r o u s cristalloid b o d i e s ; 5, 6: maturing o o c y s t s with n u m e r o u s s p o r o k i n e t e s ; 7: mature o o c y s t with s p o r o k i n e t e s (left) a n d s p o r o c y s t ( a r r o w ) .

3 6 6 Noté de recherche Parasite, 1997, 4, 365-367

T H E ASSIGNMENT O F HEPATOZOON MAÌUUTANICUM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

REFERENCES

BRUMPT E. F o r m e s é v o l u t i v e s d ' H a e m o g r e g a r i n a maurita- nica c h e z la tique Hyalomma syriacum. Annales de Para- sitologie humaine et comparée, 1 9 3 8 , 16, 3 5 0 - 3 6 1 .

MICHEL J . C . Hepatozoon mauritanicum ( S e r g e n t & Sergent, 1 9 0 4 ) n. c o m b . parasite d e Testudo graeca : redescription de la s p o r o g o n i e c h e z Hyalomma aegyptium et d e la s c h i z o g o n i e tissulaire d ' a p r è s l e matériel d'E. B r u m p t . Annales de Parasitologie humaine et comparée, 1 9 7 3 , 48, 1 1 - 2 1 .

PETIT G . , LANDAU I., BACCAM D . & LAINSON R. D e s c r i p t i o n e t

c y c l e b i o l o g i q u e d'Hemolivia stellata η. g., η . s p . . H é m o - grégarine d e crapauds brésiliens. Annales de Parasitologie humaine et comparée, 1 9 9 0 , 65, 3 - 1 5 .

SMALLRIDGE C. & PAPERNA I. T h e tick transmitted h a e m o g r e - garinid o f t h e Australian s l e e p y lizard Tiliqua rugosa b e l o n g s t o the gentis Hemolivia. Parasite, 1 9 9 7 , 4, 3 5 9 - 363.

SMITH T . G . & DESSER S . S . P h y l o g e n e t i c analysis o f t h e g e n u s Hepatozoon Miller, 1 9 0 8 ( A p i c o m p l e x a : Adeleorina). Sys- tematic Parasitology, 1 9 9 7 , in press.

R e ç u l e 1 8 août 1 9 9 7 A c c e p t é le 1 2 s e p t e m b r e 1 9 9 7

Parasite, 1997, 4, 363-367

Note de recherche ^{3 6 7}

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