Filariae from a wild gorilla in Gabon with description of a new species of Mansonella

Abstract

A search for filariae was performed on a wild male Gorilla g. gorilla from the Lopé Reserve in Gabon, which had died as a result of injuries inflicted by another male gorilla. A female worm of Loa loa and female worms of two species of Mansonella were recovered from the deep tissues of a wounded thigh. In order to analyze these Mansonella, specimens of M. (E.) perstans, M. (E.) vanhoofi and M. (E.) streptocerca from the Collections of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris have been studied and new important discriminative characters characterised, such as the body-swellings in M. (E.) perstans, due to the presence of coelomocytes as in South-american M. (Tetrapetalonema) spp. One of the Mansonella from this gorilla was not identified, but the body-swellings and the microfilarial morphology suggested a possible similarity with M. (Esslingeria) perstans. The other species is new; M. (E.) lopeensis n. sp. is distinguished by its large size, lack of body-swellings, structure of the tegumental sheath, complex vagina, and a tail with a subterminal constriction, a terminal bend and large lappets. Histological sections of organs of this gorilla also showed a microfilaria of M. (E) leopoldi in the blood vessels of the liver, and a male of Mansonella sp., interestingly situated in an afferent lymphatic vessel of an axillary lymph node.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)