Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T19:33:38.514Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Comparative account of the merocysts seen in the Himalayan flying squirrels, with a note on the identity of the parasites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

B. Dasgupta
Affiliation:
Zoology Department, Darjeeling Government College, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
Amal Chatterjee
Affiliation:
Zoology Department, Darjeeling Government College, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
H. N. Ray
Affiliation:
Zoology Department, Darjeeling Government College, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India

Extract

Merocysts in P. inornatus are found in the liver, spleen and lungs, while in P. magnificus the liver is the only site. In the former the protoplasmic rim is narrow and the merozoites are sparsely distributed within it; in the latter the protoplasmic rim is irregular, quite thick and broken in places. In the former, the colloidal mass is scanty, and is in the form of tenuous matrix enclosing irregular interspaces; in the latter form, the colloidal mass is in the form of homogeneous substance with little vacuolation. In view of the wide differences in the structure and the site of occurrence, the merocysts found in the two different species of flying squirrels are considered to belong to two separate parasites. The parasite occurring in P. inornatus is identified as H. rayi rayi Tokura & Wu, sensu stricto, while the other parasite occurring in P. magnificus is designated H. rayi wui, a new subspecies, named in honour of Dr Wu Chen-Lan who worked on flying squirrel malaria in Formosa.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1970

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Dasgupta, B. (1967). A new malarial parasite in the flying squirrel. Parasitology 57, 467–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dasgupta, B. & Chatterjee, A. (1969). Further observations on the malaria parasite of the Himalayan flying squirrel. Parasitology 59, 733–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dissanaike, A. S. (1963). On some blood parasites of wild animals in Ceylon. Ceylon Veterinary Journal 11, 7386.Google Scholar
Edeson, J. F. B. (1949). A note on presumed exo-erythrocytic development of Plasmodium vassali in the liver of the Malayan squirrel. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 42, 569–72.Google Scholar
Field, J. W. & Edeson, J. F. B. (1950). A malaria parasite of the Malayan squirrel. Bulletin of the Institute of Medical Research, Federation of Malaya, no. 2, Kuala Lumpur, pp. 124.Google Scholar
Garnham, P. C. C. (1966). Malaria parasites and other Haemosporidia. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Ray, H. N. (1949). Exo-erythrocytic schizogony in Plasmodium sp., in the himalayan flying squirrel, Petaurista inornatus (Geoffrey). A preliminary note. Proceedings of the National Institute of Sciences of India 15, 241–4.Google Scholar
Ray, H. N. (1960). Exo-erythrocytic schizogony of a malaria parasite in the himalayan flying squirrel, Petaurista inornatus (Geoffrey). Proceedings of the National Institute of Sciences of India 26B, Suppl. 1, 15.Google Scholar
Tokura, N. & Wu, Chen-Lan. (1961). A malaria parasite Hepatocystes, of the flying squirrel in Taiwan. Endemic Diseases Bulletin, Nagasaki University 3, 174–9.Google Scholar
Van Peenen, P. F. D., Hoogstraal, H., Duncan, J. F. & Ryan, P. F. (1968). Hematozoa from mammals of South America. Journal of Protozoology 15, 608–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, Chen-Lan. (1953). Contributions to the study on the Mammalian malaria in Formosa (Taiwan). Igaku kenkyû (Acta Medica) 23, 1979–94.Google Scholar