A Contribution to the Study of Fijian Haematozoa With Descriptions of a New Species from Each of the Genera Haemogregarina and Microfilaria
Summary
Summary
Only 8 (1.6 per cent.) of the 497 animals examined were found to be infected with haematozoa, 4 (9 per cent.) of the 43 species concerned being hosts. Two of the 4 species of parasites discovered belong to the Protozoa (Haemogregarina salariasi n.sp. and Plasmodium pteropi Breinl), the others to the Nematoda (Dirofilaria immitis (Leidy) and Microfilaria mynah n.sp.). Both protozoans parasitize indigenous animals, one of these, the fruit bat Pteropus nawaiensis (Gray) being restricted to Fiji, although its parasite, P. pteropi, occurs throughout the Indo-Pacific area. The other host for a blood protozoan, the blenny Salarias periophthalmus Val., is widely distributed among the islands of the tropical Pacific. Its parasite, H. salariasi n.sp., is systematically close to other bigeminate haemogregarines already described from blennies in other parts of the world. Both nematodes occur in animals which have been introduced into Fiji by the agency of man, the dog and the Indian mynah, Acridotheres tristis tristis (Linnaeus).