Family Porocephalidae Sambon, 1922

Kiricephalus pattoni

Museums

Regional Maps

• Porocephalinae Sambon, L.W. 1922. A synopsis of the family Linguatulidae [part I]. Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 25: 188-206 [190] (erected as subfamily of Linguatulidae).
• Pentastomidae Shipley, A.E. 1909. Chapter XX. Pentastomida. pp. 488-496 in Harmer, S.F. & Shipley, A.E. The Cambridge natural history. London : Macmillan & Co Vol. 4. [488] [subjective synonym].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Poore, G.C.B. 2012. taxonomic decision, http://biodiversity.org.au/afd (Shipley (1909) remarked in a footnote “The animals included in this group [Pentastomida] are usually called Linguatulidae or Pentastomidae …”. Pentastomatidae, correctly spelled, could be appropriated as a family name for this group since its type genus Polystoma (Pentastoma) is a junior synonym of Porocephalus. However, ICZN Article 35.5 allows for a family-group name in prevailing usage not to be displaced by an older name within the same subjective family. Pentastomidae seems never to have been adopted as a family name.)

Introduction

Riley (1986) listed two genera and a dozen species, parasites of snakes, with intermediate stages possibly in snakes, mammals, amphibians and lizards. Kiricephalus pattoni is said to be from Indian, South-east Asian and Australian snakes but no definitive record exists for Australia.

Diagnosis

Body shape in adults long and slender; cylindrical. Annuli in adults not 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, campanulate 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 or present 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 cylindrical, expanded at both ends, often slightly spiral. Abdominal rings longer, less numerous (30–50) and less prominent than in Sambonidae and Sebekidae; weakly marked in adult and becoming indistinct in brooding female. Lateral lines indistinct or absent. Hooks arranged in an arc or straight line; all hooks simple, or simple internally and double externally. Fulcrum oval or U-shaped. Vulva opens near anus in a small depression or with the anus (opisthogyne type). Intestine straight. (translated from Fain 1961)

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. 1986. The biology of pentastomids. Advances in Parasitology 25: 45-128

History of changes