The Open Parasitology Journal
2009, 3 : 4-8Published online 2009 April 7. DOI: 10.2174/1874421400903010004
Publisher ID: TOPARAJ-3-4
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Redescription of Mehra, 1939 (Digenea: Spirorchiidae) from the Heart of Green Sea Turtles in Costa Rica
1
Departamento de Patología, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional, PO Box 86, Heredia 3000, Costa Rica
2 Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611
3 Laboratorio de Helminthología, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
* Address correspondence to this author at the Departamento de Patología, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional, PO Box 86, Heredia 3000, Costa Rica; Tel/Fax: (506) 2600849; E-mail: marisant@libero.it
2 Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611
3 Laboratorio de Helminthología, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
* Address correspondence to this author at the Departamento de Patología, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional, PO Box 86, Heredia 3000, Costa Rica; Tel/Fax: (506) 2600849; E-mail: marisant@libero.it
ABSTRACT
Monticellius indicum Mehra, 1939, is redescribed from the heart of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) at Tortuguero National Park, Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Of the 40 green turtles examined, only 5 (12.5%) were infected with a mean intensity of 1.6. Our specimens are consistent with the original description based on a single fluke from the heart of the same host species in the Arabian Sea, Pakistan, but our redescription provides an unreported range of variation while adding new information about acetabulum structure and egg morphology.