Redescription of Setaria graberi Shoho in Troncy, Graber & Thal, 1976 (Nematoda: Filarioidea) based on specimens from Redunca arundinum (Bovidae) in South Africa.

Abstract

The filarial onchocercid Setaria graberi Shoho in Troncy, Graber & Thal, 1976 is redescribed from the abdominal cavity of Southern reedbuck, Redunca arundinum (Boddaert), in South Africa, including illustrations and scanning electron micrographs of important morphological features. Morphometric data for this species are provided for the first time. Setaria graberi is characterised by the possession of bifid deirids, and females having a distinctly bulbous tail. The slightly raised peribuccal crown forms a dumbbell-shaped unit with the cephalic elevations in apical view; the dorsal and ventral elevations, spaced 73-115 μm apart in females and 71-93 μm in males, carry two well-separated tips each. In dorsoventral view, the cephalic elevations appear more or less rectangular with a slightly notched apex and are narrow in comparison to the width of the anterior end. They are triangular in lateral view. Four cephalic and four external labial papillae are arranged in a laterally elongated rectangle each. The species is distinguished from other Setaria Viborg, 1795 species that possess bifid deirids or occur in members of the same host genus. The presence of S. graberi in R. arundinum in South Africa constitutes a new host and geographic record.