 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
Welcome to ProQuest-CSA, your Guide to Discovery. ProQuest-CSA helps researchers worldwide find and manage relevant information in their field. If you're a member of an academic institution you may have access to CSA Illumina. Please contact your library to find out. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
The biology and adaptations of the hippopotamus leech
Placobdelloides jaegerskioeldi (Glossiphoniidae) to its host
Oosthuizen, JH | Davies, RW*
Canadian Journal of Zoology/Revue Canadienne de Zoologie [CAN. J.
ZOOL./REV. CAN. ZOOL.]. Vol. 72, no. 3, pp. 418-422. 1994.
The specificity of the association between the freshwater leech
Placobdelloides jaegerskioeldi and the hippopotamus was confirmed
both by collections from the Kruger National Park and by
laboratory experiments. Placobdelloides jaegerskioeldi is
established as the only leech showing species specificity for a
mammal. Forty sexually mature leeches were collected free-living
and 2260 mature and immature leeches were collected from 40 of 53
culled hippopotami. In the field P. jaegerskioeldi was never found
on any of the alternative hosts, and none fed in the laboratory
when offered a range of potential hosts. A combination of unique
attributes, including mode of locomotion, anatomical features, and
feeding behaviour, makes it possible for this leech to utilize the
hippopotamus as a host. Evidence suggests that mating in P.
jaegerskioldi is restricted to the rectum of the hippopotamus.
 Descriptors: Article Subject Terms adaptations | aquatic mammals | freshwater organisms | host preferences | host specificity | parasites | specificity | Article Taxonomic Terms Hippopotamus amphibius | Article Geographic Terms South Africa
|
|
|
|
