A NEW RECORD OF RHABDOCHONA (RHABDOCHONA) HELLICHI TURKESTANICA (SKRJABIN, 1917) MORAVEC ET AL., 2010 (NEMATODA: RHABDOCHONIDAE) FROM HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA
Suman Kumari, Yanchen Dolma and Deepak C. Kalia
Abstract
The nematode Rhabdochona (Rhabdochona) hellichi turkestanica (Skrjabin, 1917) Moravec et al., 2010, a specific intestinal parasite of the cyprinoid fish, is described and illustrated from specimens parasitizing Schizothorax plagiostomus Heckel, 1838 from the river Ravi, at Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, in India. It is characterized by the presence of 14 anterior teeth in prostome (3 dorsal, 3 ventral and 4 on each lateral side); spicules unequal and dissimilar, bifurcated tip of left spicule having a ventral process distinctly longer than the dorsal one and scanning micrograph exhibiting its cuticular sheath as being distinctly blunt claw-hammer shaped; female vulva, in SEM, rectangular and guarded by a penta ribbed cantilever; eggs oval, each bearing distinct protuberance on either pole and provided with broad filament of fibrous structure.
Keywords: Nematode, Rhabdochona, Schizothorax, India.