Revision of the genus Chordodes (Gordiida: Nematomorpha) from Africa IV. Ultrastructural redescription of Chordodes congolensis Sciacchitano, 1933, Chordodes ferox Camerano, 1897, Chordodes madagascariensis (Camerano, 1893), Chordodes mobensis Sciacchitano, 1958 and reinterpretation of Chordodes maculatus Sciacchitano, 1958 and Chordodes kakandensis Sciacchitano, 1958

Abstract

Six species of the genus Chordodes from Africa were investigated in order to certify their taxonomic descriptions and verify the species status. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that the female of Chordodes congolensis has seven types of areoles, while the females of C. ferox have six and the male and females of C. madagascariensis have four and five areolar types, respectively. The females of these three species have polymorphic crowned areoles with both short and long filaments, these areoles are only observed along the ventral groove. The female of Chordodes mobensis has five areolar types and we found that crowned areoles were present in clusters of 10–12 areoles. Chordodes maculatus has been synonymized with C. kolensis and C. kakandensis with C. schoutedeni, because no differences could be detected that justify these species as valid.

Keywords:

• Chordodes
• Africa
• Nematomorpha
• scanning electron microscopy

Acknowledgements

We greatly appreciate the help of Rudy Jocqué (Africa Museum Tervuren, Belgium; Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika), Jean-Lou Justine (Muséum National d´Histoire Naturelle, Paris France) and Lisa Levi (Museo Regionale di Science Naturali, Torino, Italy) for the loaning and permission to investigate museum specimens. Thanks also to Patricia Sarmiento from the Scanning Electron Microscopy Service (Museo de Ciencias Naturales, La Plata, Argentina) for preparation of the material and Mrs Mónica Caviglia for kindly helping with the English version of this manuscript. Many thanks also to two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on the manuscript.