New reports of parasitism by Synhimantus (Dispharynx) nasuta (Rudolphi, 1819) (Nematoda: Acuariidae) in wild birds in Brazil.

The aim of this study was to register the first occurrence of Synhimantus (Dispharynx) nasuta (Nematoda: Acuariidae) in some species of wild birds in Brazil. In addition, the aim was to deepen the knowledge about the morphology of this species through analysis using scanning electron microscopy. Nematodes were collected in wild birds of the species Turdus leucomelas, T. rufiventris, Mimus saturninus, Pitangus sulphuratus, Megascops choliba, Tyto furcata, and Falco sparverius. The morphological and morphometric data observed in the nematodes prove that these parasites are S. (D.) nasuta. This study also provides morphological data from light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as the morphometry of this nematode in each host species. Therefore, the current study confirms the first record of this nematode in F. sparverius and T. furcata in South America and, at the same time, these findings expand the host range of this parasite species worldwide, through the first records in M. choliba, M. saturninus, T. leucomelas and T. rufiventris.

Vertical Transmission of a Nematode from Female Lizards to the Brains of Their Offspring.

Parasites have evolved a diversity of lifestyles that exploit the biology of their hosts. Some nematodes that parasitize mammals pass via the placenta or milk from one host to another. Similar cases of vertical transmission have never been reported in avian and nonavian reptiles, suggesting that egg laying may constrain the means of parasite transmission. However, here we report the first incidence of transovarial transmission of a previously undescribed nematode in an egg-laying amniote, the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis). Nematodes enter the developing brain from the female ovary early in embryonic development. Infected lizard embryos develop normally and hatch with nematodes residing in their braincase. We present a morphological and molecular phylogenetic characterization of the nematode and suggest that particular features of lizard biology that are absent from birds and turtles facilitated the evolutionary origin of this novel life history.