A new millipede-parasitizing horsehair worm, Gordius chiashanus sp. nov., at medium altitudes in Taiwan (Nematomorpha, Gordiida)
0106 biological sciences
definitive host immature stage parasitic life cycle terrestrial adaptation
Nematomorpha
Nephrozoa
Protostomia
01 natural sciences
Nematoida
Gordioidea
Animalia
Bilateria
terrestrial adaptation
Cephalornis
parasitic life cycle
Gordioida
Gordius
Gordiidae
QL1-991
Cycloneuralia
Ecdysozoa
definitive host
Zoology
immature stage
Coelenterata
Research Article
DOI:
10.3897/zookeys.941.49100
Publication Date:
2020-06-16T07:31:32Z
AUTHORS (6)
ABSTRACT
Gordius chiashanussp. nov., a newly described horsehair worm that parasitizes the Spirobolus millipede, is one of the three described horsehair worm species in Taiwan. It is morphologically similar to G. helveticus Schmidt-Rhaesa, 2010 because of the progressively broadening distribution of bristles concentrated on the male tail lobes, but it is distinguishable from G. helveticus because of the stout bristles on the mid-body. In addition, a vertical white stripe on the anterior ventral side and areoles on the inside wall of the cloacal opening are rarely mentioned in other Gordius species. Free-living adults emerged and mated on wet soil under the forest canopy in the winter (late November to early February) at medium altitudes (1100–1700 m). Mucus-like structure covering on the body surface, which creates a rainbow-like reflection, might endow the worm with high tolerance to dehydration. Although Gordius chiashanussp. nov. seems to be more adaptive to the terrestrial environment than other horsehair worm species, cysts putatively identified as belonging to this hairworm species found in the aquatic paratenic host, Ephemera orientalis McLachlan, 1875, suggest the life cycle of Gordius chiashanussp. nov. could involve water and land. The free-living adults emerged from the definitive hosts might reproduce in the terrestrial environment or enter an aquatic habitat by moving or being washed away by heavy rain instead of manipulating the behavior of their terrestrial definitive hosts.
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