Integrative taxonomy of Stephanurus dentatus Diesing, 1839 (Nematoda: Syngamidae)

• Grant number: 22/12529-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: November 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Estevam Guilherme Lux Hoppe
• Grantee: Vitória Maximiana Soares dos Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The nematode Stephanurus dentatus parasites swine and eventually cattle, has a direct life cycle and the host is infected orally or percutaneously. Stephanurosis causes economic losses in swine farms in tropical and subtropical countries and is present in wild populations of wild boar (Sus scrofa), which can act as dispersers of S. dentatus for swine and native taiassuids. Stephanurus dentatus was first described in 1839 by Diesing, but with inaccurate morphological characteristics. Later, in the 1920s, Daubney and Skrjabin made a detailed description of this helminth, which is a robust nematode with a grayish coloration with a very thin integument that allows to distinguish the internal organs, it has a long intestine with a series of convolutions, it has two equal spicules and elliptical eggs at laying. Currently, there are few anatomical studies of this nematode and most are quite old, with characteristics described superficially or incompletely. Furthermore, the few genomic sequences of S. dentatus deposited in GenBank were recently used to suggest that it is genetically related to the family Chabertiidae, and should be removed from the family Syngamidae. Using traditional morphological description with molecular techniques obeys the principles of integrative taxonomy when using multiple sources of data for the characterization and delimitation of species. Thus, the present study aims to use integrative taxonomy to redescribe the species Stephanus dentatus to enrich the alpha-taxonomy of the group.