Acanthocephalus lutzi (Hamann, 1891) is proposed to be transferred to the genus Pseudoacanthocephalus Petrochenko, 1956 based on the type material from Rhinella marina (L.) from Brazil and recently collected material from R. arenarum (Hensel) from Argentina. Pseudoacanthocephalus is characterised by the following features: a cylindrical trunk without spines, a cylindrical proboscis, testes in tandem, a compact cluster of cement glands, a nearly terminal male genital pore, a ventral and sub-terminal female genital pore, and egg without polar prolongations, containing a holoechinate acanthor. Pseudoacanthocephalus lutzi comb. n. has a proboscis armature of 14-18 longitudinal rows of 5-8 hooks each, with all roots formed by a posteriorly directed longitudinal spatulate sheet having a central rib, and an inconspicuous sheet directed anteriorly; a variable number (4, 5 or 6) of cement glands; a cerebral ganglion located near the base of the proboscis receptacle; digitiform to claviform lemnisci, as long as, or slightly shorter or slightly longer than the proboscis receptacle; a sigmoid-shaped posterior end in males; an egg with a conspicuous fibrillar coat; and one of the larval hooks more robust and different in shape than the others. Additionally, the type material of Acanthocephalus saopaulensis Smales, 2007 from Rhinella icterica (Spix) from Brazil and a paratype of A. caspanensis Fernández et Ibarra Vidal, 1992 from R. spinulosa (Wiegmann) from Chile were studied. Acanthocephalus saopaulensis is considered conspecific with P. lutzi and A. caspanensis is transferred to Pseudoacanthocephalus because it possesses all the characters of the genus mentioned above. The use of characters such as egg morphology and host ecology for distinguishing Acanthocephalus from Pseudoacanthocephalus is also discussed.
Based on material collected from Rhinella cf. margaritifera (Laurenti) and Rhi. marina (Linnaeus) (Anura: Bufonidae) during a parasite survey of the herpetofauna of French Guiana, updated descriptions of Rhabdias androgyna Kloss, 1971 and R. fuelleborni Travassos, 1926 are presented. In addition to metrical data, which may overlap in closely related species, emphasis is placed on qualitative characters. Rhabdias androgyna is distinguished by the unique presence of an outer and inner cephalic cuticular inflation, a shoulder-like broadening of the body at the anterior end, a wide and shallow buccal capsule (average buccal ratio 0.36) with serrated lumen in apical view, a prominent anterior dilatation of the oesophagus, and the presence of an additional posterior dilatation anterior to the oesophageal bulb. Characters that may help to differentiate R. fuelleborni from closely related species parasitising the Rhi. marina species group are the presence of six relatively uniform lips, and the division of the buccal capsule into an anterior and posterior segment, with differently structured walls. Both the presence of R. androgyna and R. fuelleborni in French Guiana constitute new geographic records. A single specimen of Rhabdias sp. is described from Pristimantis chiastonotus (Lynch et Hoegmood) (Anura: Craugastoridae). This species differs from all its Neotropical congeners by the distinct globular swelling of its head, similar to that seen in only one Palaearctic and one Afrotropical Rhabdias species. A list of species of Rhabdias parasitising amphibians in the Netropical Realm is also provided., Yuriy Kuzmin, Louis H. du Preez, Kerstin Junker., and Obsahuje bibliografii