Ophiotaenia tessellata sp. n. (Eucestoda: Proteocephalinae) from Natrix tessellata (Laurenti, 1768) (Serpentes: Colubridae) in Egypt
Ophiotaenia tessellata sp. n. (Eucestoda: Proteocephalinae) from Natrix tessellata (Laurenti, 1768) (Serpentes: Colubridae) in Egypt
Irene S. Gamil1* and Dalia Fouad1,2
ABSTRACT
Ophiotaenia tessellata sp. n. (Proteocephalidea: Proteocephalinae) is described from the intestine of the dice water snake Natrix tessellata (Laurenti, 1768) (Serpentes: Colubridae) collected from El Faiyoum Governorate, Egypt. Standard methods of collection of the snakes and examination of the cestode tapeworms for taxonomic studies were used. Ophiotaenia tessellata sp. n. was identified and being separable from Ophiotaenia species found in African snakes as well as those from colubrid snakes based on many morphological characteristics. Analysis of a dataset based on 473 bp of its 18S rRNA gene regions was carried out to determine the phylogenetic position of the new species among other proteocephalideans. Ophiotaenia tessellata sp. n. shows a close relationship to O. lapata Rambeloson, Ranaivoson and de Chambrier, 2012 parasite of the endemic snake Madagascarophis colubrinus from Madagascar; both infect African colubrid snakes.
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