Brachylaima apoplania n. sp. (Digenea: Brachylaimidae) from the Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans (Rodentia: Muridae), in New Zealand: origins and zoogeography

Abstract

Brachylaima apoplania n. sp. is described from the small intestine of the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans) on Tiritiri Matangi Island, New Zealand. The new species is most similar to Brachylaima ratti Baugh, 1962, from Rattus rattus. The two species differ only in morphometric characters, B. apoplania possessing significantly smaller suckers, pharynx, testes, ovary, and cirrus sac. The close resemblance between B. apoplania and B. ratti, the close relationship between their hosts, and archaeological evidence on the origin and early dispersal of R. exulans are used to hypothesize a common Southeast Asian origin for the 2 Brachylaima species. Brachylaima apoplania is believed to have dispersed subsequently throughout the South Pacific islands, along with its rodent host, in the canoes of the ancestors of the modern Polynesians and Maoris.