Pharyngodonids (Oxyuroidea; Nematoda) of Agama adramitana in Saudi Arabia with notes on Parapharyngodon

Abstract

Two species of pharyngodonid (Oxyuroidea; Nematoda) parasites were collected from Agama adramitana in Saudi Arabia: Thelandros popovi Markov and Bogdanov, 1963 is redescribed and Parapharyngodon adramitana n. sp. is described for the first time. The new species resembles P. almoriensis and P. kasauli from Agama tuberculata and Uromastix hardwickii, respectively; the genital cone is relatively well-developed, broad lateral alae terminate abruptly 50 to 90 μm anterior to the anus in males, and the caudal extremity of females is abruptly truncate and bears a short spinelike caudal appendage. In P. adramitana the genital cone is less developed and the caudal appendage of the female is more robust than in P. almoriensis and P. kasauli. Parapharyngodon echinatus and P. micipsae are briefly redescribed and differentiated on the basis of material from Tarentola mauritanica (Gekkonidae) from France. Parapharyngodon acanthura (Linstow, 1904) is considered a valid name; it is not a synonym of P. micipsae as Seurat (1917) suggested. In addition, phylogenetic implications of larval morphology and the systematic position of Parapharyngodon are discussed.