Neoandracantha

Neoandracantha is a genus of parasitic worms from the phylum Acanthocephala. The genus was created in 2017 by Amin & Heckmann [1] for the single species Neoandracantha peruensis.

Neoandracantha
Neoandracantha peruensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Acanthocephala
Class:	Palaeacanthocephala
Order:	Polymorphida
Family:	Polymorphidae
Genus:	Neoandracantha Amin & Heckmann, 2017
Species:	N. peruensis
Binomial name
Neoandracantha peruensis Amin & Heckmann, 2017

The genus was differentiated from the closely related genus Andracantha Schmidt, 1975 because members of Andracantha have anteriorly enlarged pear-shaped Corynosoma-like trunks, only two fields of anterior trunk spines with occasional genital spines, and bilateral or tandem testes, and because proboscides of species of Andracantha have considerably fewer hooks that gradually decrease in size posteriorly.[1]

Neoandracantha peruensis is an endoparasite in the Polymorphidae family of thorny-headed worms.[1]

The larval stages (cystacanths) of Neoandracantha peruensis were described from the ghost crab Ocypode gaudichaudii collected from the Pacific coast of Peru. While it is uncommon to describe acanthocephalan taxa from immature stages, Amin & Heckmann (2017)[1] claimed that the presence of clear-cut distinguishing features separating the present material from its nearest congeneric taxa, and the absence of adults, justified the erection of the new species N. peruensis.

Morphology

Specimens of N. peruensis have a slender trunk with two anterior swellings, 3 separate fields of spines on the foretrunk swelling, and no genital spines on the hindtrunk. The proboscis is heavily armored with 21–22 longitudinal rows of 22 hooks each. Hook no. 14 is more robust ventrally than dorsally. Cystacanths of N. peruensis also have a long tubular hindtrunk and the males have diagonal testes in the midtrunk swelling.

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  Scanning electron microscopy of Neoandracantha peruensis
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  Scanning electron microscopy of Neoandracantha peruensis
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  Scanning electron microscopy of Neoandracantha peruensis

References

1. Amin, Omar M.; Heckmann, Richard A. (2017). "Neoandracantha peruensis n. gen. n. sp. (Acanthocephala, Polymorphidae) described from cystacanths infecting the ghost crab Ocypode gaudichaudii on the Peruvian coast". Parasite. 24: 40. doi:10.1051/parasite/2017038. ISSN 1776-1042. PMC 5657191. PMID 29072573.