Moaciria moraveci

Moaciria moraveci
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Nematoda
Class:	Secernentea
Order:	Ascaridida
Family:	Heterakidae
Subfamily:	Spinicaudinae
Genus:	Moaciria
Species:	M. moraveci
Binomial name
Moaciria moraveci Bursey, Goldberg, and Kraus, 2007

Moaciria moraveci is a parasitic worm infecting a Hylophorbus frog on Fergusson Island, Papua New Guinea. It is a member of the genus Moaciria, a nematode in the family Heterakidae. Moaciria was first described, in 1956, from the Brazilian Noronha skink, but other species from more parts of the world have since been described.^[1]

Moaciria moraveci is a small but stout nematode. The male is smaller than the female. In males, total length is 2.59 to 2.85 mm, and in females, it is 2.94 to 4.16 mm.^[2]

The only known host is a frog in the genus Hylophorbus from Fergusson, close to but perhaps distinct from Hylophorbus rufescens; it is present in 10 out of 21 specimens examined.^[1] It infects the large intestine.^[2] Other parasites in this species include Cosmocerca novaeguineae, Cosmocerca tyleri, Oswaldocruzia bakeri, and a species of Physocephalus.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Bursey et al., 2007, p. 233
2. ^ ^{a b} Bursey et al., 2007, p. 234

Literature cited

• Bursey, C.R., Goldberg, S.R. and Kraus, F. 2007. A new species of Moaciria (Nematoda, Heterakidae) and other helminths in the red Mawatta frog, Hylophorbus cf. rufescens (Anura, Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea (subscription only). Acta Parasitologica 52(3):233–237.