Detailed morphological description of Habronema clarki Foster & Chitwood, 1937, a nematode parasite of capybaras Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris (Linnaeus, 1766) in Brazil

Abstract

The genus Habronema has four valid species, of which only two are properly known. The present study aimed to describe in detail the morphology of Habronema clarki through optical and scanning electron microscopy analyses. Our results showed that the labial morphology of this parasite is closer to H. muscae than to H. microstoma. Even so, the characteristic pseudolabia and the slightly convex border of the dorsal and ventral lips are sufficient to distinguish these nematodes. Additional morphological data are presented, thus contributing to the knowledge on this little known nematode. In addition, this study provides new locality records for this species.

Keywords

• Nematoda
• optical microscopy
• scanning electron microscopy
• labial morphology