Family Armilliferidae Kishida, 1928

Armillifer australis Heymons, 1935

Museums

Regional Maps

• Armilliferinae Kishida, K. 1928. A new linguatulid, Armillifer yoshidai, with notes on the Porocephalidae. Annotationes Zoologicae Japonenses 11: 397-405 [400].
• Nettorhynchidae Doucet, J.-P. 1962. Pentastomes de l'Angola. Publicaçoes Culturais da Companhia de Diamantes de Angola 54: 115-120 [not seen] [117] [nomen nudum; based on misspelled genus name].

  Type genus:

   Nettorhynchus Gervais, 1847 [misspelling of Netrorhynchus Zenker, 1827].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Zenker, J.C. 1827. Parasitae corporis humani internae seu vermes intestinales hominis. Lipsae : Hofmeister viii+112 pp.
• Gervais, P. 1847. Nettorhynchus. P. 630 in D'Orbigny, C.V.D. (ed.). Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle résumant et complétant tous les faits présentés par les encyclopédies les anciens dictionnaires scientifiques les oeuvres complètes de Buffon, et les traités spéciaux sur les diverses branches des sciences naturelles donnant la description des ,tres et des divers phénomènes de la nature l'étymologie et la définition des noms scientifiques, les principales applications des corps organiques et inorganiques à l'agriculture, à la médecine, aux arts industriels, etc.; dirigé par M. Charles d'Orbigny, et enrichi d'un magnifique atlas de 288 planches gravées sur acier. Paris : C. Renard Tome huitième.
• Riley, J. 1986. The biology of pentastomids. Advances in Parasitology 25: 45-128 [66] (treated Nettorhynchidae as an alternative name subsequently abandonned)

Introduction

Armilliferids are primary parasites of snakes, with intermediate stages in mammals. Species number less than a dozen. One of three genera occurs in Australia. Riley & Self (1981) listed an undescribed species of Armillifer in the collections of AMNH from a 'Brown Water Snake', species unknown, from Darwin, Northern Territory. Spratt (2011) lists unidentified nymphs of Armillifer in Northern Quoll, Antechinus and Crest-tailed Mulgara in the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea.

Diagnosis

Body shape in adults long and slender, or short and massive (banana-shaped); cylindrical. Annuli in adults not thickened, or thickened. Rostrum in adults absent. Mouth in adults behind anterior hooks. Podial lobes in adults absent. Proximal podomere of appendages 3 and 4 modified as fulcrum, campanule-shaped in larvae and boat-shaped in adults; fulcrum in adults proportional to length of hooks. Primary hooks in adults not reduced, aligned; accessory hooks present and dorsal from larvae to nymph; absent in adults; hooks without spines. Cirrus sac in adults present, long. Terminal papillae in adults absent. Ejaculatory bulbs in adults elongate. Nervous system in adults with all ganglia fused into single suboesophagic nerve mass. Uterus in adults tubular. Female gonopore in adults subterminal, posterior, adjacent, or fused to anus (opisthogyne condition). Thorax in larvae short, not segmented. Medium spine of penetrating apparatus in primary larvae simple. Lateral spines of penetrating apparatus in primary larvae bifid. Spines of annuli in nymph present. Spiny eggshells in adults absent. (derived from Almeida & Christoffersen 1999)

Body an elongate cylinder, the last segment olive-shaped. Abdominal rings relatively long, distinct and generally visible. Lateral line absent. Hooks simple in adult and nymph, equal or subequal, arranged along a straight or slightly curved line. Fulcrum rounded or horseshoe-shaped, located at the level of the hooks. Anus terminal or subterminal. Vulva opening immediately in front of anus or separated from anus (either on same ring or separated by a complete ring. (translated from Fain 1966)

Diagnosis References

Almeida, W.O. & Christoffersen, M.L. 1999. A cladistic approach to relationships in Pentastomida. Journal of Parasitology 85: 695-704

Fain, A. 1961. Les pentastomides de l'Afrique centrale. Annales du Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale Tervuren Belgique sér. 8, Zool. 92: 1-115

General References

Riley, J. & Self, J.T. 1981. Some observations on the taxonomy and systematics of the pentastomid genus Armillifer (Sambon, 1922) in South East Asian and Australian snakes. Systematic Parasitology 2: 171-179 [176]

Spratt, D.M. 2011. Unpublished list of pentastomes in Wildlife Parasitology & Pathology Collection in the Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Crace, Canberra.

History of changes