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Spiracanthus

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Spiracanthus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Acanthocephala
Class: Palaeacanthocephala
Order: Echinorhynchida
Family: Arhythmacanthidae
Genus: Spiracanthus
Munoz & George-Nascimento, 2002[1]
Species:
S. bovichthys
Binomial name
Spiracanthus bovichthys
Munoz & George-Nascimento, 2002

Spiracanthus is a monotypic genus of acanthocephalans (thorny-headed or spiny-headed parasitic worms) containing a single species, Spiracanthus bovichthys, that infests animals.

Taxonomy

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The species was described by Munoz & George-Nascimento in 2002.[1] The National Center for Biotechnology Information does not indicate that any phylogenetic analysis has been published on Spiracanthus that would confirm its position as a unique genus in the family Arhythmacanthidae.[2]

Description

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Spiracanthus bovichthys consists of a proboscis covered in hooks and a long trunk.[citation needed]

Distribution

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The distribution of Spiracanthus bovichthys is determined by that of its hosts, which are found in the central south coast of Chile.[1]

Hosts

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Diagram of the life cycle of Acanthocephala
Life cycle of Acanthocephala.[3][a]

The life cycle of an acanthocephalan consists of three stages beginning when an infective acanthor (development of an egg) is released from the intestines of the definitive host and then ingested by an arthropod, the intermediate host. Although the intermediate hosts of Spiracanthus are ???. When the acanthor molts, the second stage called the acanthella begins. This stage involves penetrating the wall of the mesenteron or the intestine of the intermediate host and growing. The final stage is the infective cystacanth which is the larval or juvenile state of an Acanthocephalan, differing from the adult only in size and stage of sexual development. The cystacanths within the intermediate hosts are consumed by the definitive host, usually attaching to the walls of the intestines, and as adults they reproduce sexually in the intestines. The acanthor is passed in the feces of the definitive host and the cycle repeats. There may be paratenic hosts (hosts where parasites infest but do not undergo larval development or sexual reproduction) for Spiracanthus.[5]

Spiracanthus bovichthys parasitizes fish. The most suitable host is Bovichthys chilensis which was the only fish foudn infested with adult females. Other hosts include Auchenionchus variolosus, Calliclinus genigutattus, Sindoscopus australis, Myxodes cristatus, and Gobiesox marmoratus.[1] There are no reported cases of S. bovichthys infesting humans in the English language medical literature.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ There are no known aberrant human infections for S. bovichthys species.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Muñoz, G., & George-Nascimento, M. (2002). Spiracanthus bovichthys n. gen. n. sp.(Acanthocephala: Arhythmacanthidae), a parasite of littoral fishes of the central south coast of Chile. Journal of Parasitology, 88(1), 141-145.
  2. ^ Schoch, Conrad L; Ciufo, Stacy; Domrachev, Mikhail; Hotton, Carol L; Kannan, Sivakumar; Khovanskaya, Rogneda; Leipe, Detlef; Mcveigh, Richard; O’Neill, Kathleen; Robbertse, Barbara; Sharma, Shobha; Soussov, Vladimir; Sullivan, John P; Sun, Lu; Turner, Seán; Karsch-Mizrachi, Ilene (2020). "NCBI Taxonomy: a comprehensive update on curation, resources and tools". Database: The Journal of Biological Databases and Curation. NCBI. doi:10.1093/database/baaa062. PMC 7408187. PMID 32761142. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  3. ^ CDC’s Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria (11 April 2019). "Acanthocephaliasis". www.cdc.gov. Center for Disease Control. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  4. ^ a b Mathison, BA; et al. (2021). "Human Acanthocephaliasis: a Thorn in the Side of Parasite Diagnostics". J Clin Microbiol. 59 (11): e02691-20. doi:10.1128/JCM.02691-20. PMC 8525584. PMID 34076470.
  5. ^ Schmidt, G.D. (1985). "Development and life cycles". In Crompton, D.W.T.; Nickol, B.B. (eds.). Biology of the Acanthocephala (PDF). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 273–305. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.