DIPETALONEMA MEPHITIS N. COMB. (= MICROFILARIA MEPHITIS: WEBSTER AND BEAUREGARD, 1964) FROM THE SKUNK, MEPHITIS MEPHITIS

Abstract

Adult filarioids were recovered from the subcutaneous tissue of three striped skunks, Mephitis mephitis, in Quebec. The nematodes have been found to belong to the genus Dipetalonema Diesing, 1861. The microfilariae expressed from the uterus of a gravid female filarioid and those found in the blood of skunks from which adult filarioids were recovered are morphologically indistinguishable from those microfilariae found previously in brain impression smears from Ontario skunks (Webster and Beauregard 1964). The filarioid of the subcutaneous tissue of the skunk has therefore been renamed Dipetalonema mephitis n. comb. (= Microfilaria mephitis Webster and Beauregard 1964).Following histological examination of the brain tissue of a total of 116 Mephitis mephitis, 28 showed the presence of microfilariae, but failed to reveal any cellular reaction in the brain tissue or in the blood vessels of the brain which could be attributed to these parasites.