Capillariidae, Railliet, 1915

Capillariidae gen. sp.

Site of infection: Small intestine

Host: Bauerus dubiaquercus

Locality: Ejido Adolfo Ruiz Cortines (18°31’53.8” N, 95°08’01.7” W, 1061 MASL), Tuxtlas , Veracruz

Prevalence and intensity: 50% (1/2) and 18

Specimens deposited: CNHE 12132

GoogleMaps

Comments: Based on three males and four females. Male body length 5,982 ‒6,310 and body width 36‒38 at esophagus-intestine level. Muscular esophagus 188‒198 long and glandular esophagus 2,680 ‒2,860 long. Anterior cloaca 560‒770 long and posterior cloaca with terminal portion attenuated, 650‒736 long. Cirrus (internal cuticular lining) forming a few longitudinal crests, terminal end with thin spines (eventually observed coming out through the cloacal opening). Spicule not observed. Caudal end composed of two dorsal lobes with three pedunculated papillae on each dorsal lobe ( Figure 2F View FIGURE 2 ). Dorsal lobes joined with well-developed membranous bursa. Lateral alae developed. Female body length 7,782 ‒9,030 and body width 50‒55 at esophagus-intestinal junction. Muscular esophagus 139‒240 long and glandular esophagus 2,786 ‒3,295 long. Vulva close to posterior end of esophagus. Vulvar appendage present, arising basally as a protrusion of the anterior vulvar lip and continuing as a heartshaped cuticular fold ( Figure 2G View FIGURE 2 ). Vagina short, with thick musculature. Posterior end of body slightly constricted laterally and ventrally at level of end of intestine. Eggs 45‒50 long by 23‒26 wide, symmetric, or not, depending on orientation, poles slightly convex.

The most important distinguishing features among capillariid genera are related to the structure of the posterior end of the male, such as the presence or absence and characteristics of the caudal papillae, lobes, dorsal cuticular membrane, and caudal lateral alae ( Moravec 1982). According to Moravec (1982), capillariids belonging to the genera Pterothominx and Aonchotheca exhibit well-developed caudal lateral alae and possess a membranous bursa. These genera can be distinguished by characteristics of the cirrus and spicule. Pterothominx has a cirrus covered by minute spines and a well sclerotized spicule, whereas Aonchotheca possess an unspiny cirrus, and its spicule may sometimes be indiscernible due to insufficient sclerotization. In the studied specimens, the spicule was not observed, but spines were noted on the terminal portion of the cirrus. Considering the morphology observed in studied specimens, we prefer to adopt a conservative position and not assign them to any of these genera until we have more morphological and molecular evidence.

Three capillariid species have been reported from bats in Mexico: Aonchoteca martinezi (Caballero) from N. mexicanus in Mexico City ( Caballero & Caballero 1942), Aonchoteca speciosa (Beneden) from N. mexicanus , Leptonycteris yerbabuenae (Martínez & Villa-Ramírez) , M. waterhousii , G. mutica , M. velifer , M. megalophylla , T. brasiliensis , and Dermanura azteca (Andersen) in Morelos ( Peralta 2012), and Capillaria palmata (Chandler) from T. brasiliensis in Morelos ( Martínez 2009). Additionally, undescribed species of Capillaria have been reported from Micronycteris microtis Miller in Yucatan ( Chitwood 1938) and M. megalophylla , P. fulvus and Pteronotus mexicanus Miller (syn. P. parnellii ) in Jalisco ( Salinas-Ramos et al. 2017), and P. psilotis in Veracruz ( Clarke 2008), as well as nematodes of the genus Pterothominx from P. mexicanus in Jalisco ( Lamothe-Argumedo et al. 1997) and P. fulvus , P. mesoamericanus , and M. megalophylla in Morelos ( Peralta 2012; Ramírez 2015). This is the first record of Capillariidae gen. sp. in B. dubiaquercus in Mexico.