Vampirolepis sp.
Creators: name: Moguel-Chin, Wilson I.
name: Digiani, María Celina
name: Macswiney, M. Cristina
name: Ortega, Jorge
name: Ospina-Garcés, Sandra M.
name: García-Prieto, Luis
name: Canché-Pool, Elsy B.
name: Robles, María Del Rosario
name: Ávila-López, Mariana B.
name: Chan-Casanova, Anyela Jackelin
name: Panti-May, Jesús Alonso
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Platyhelminthes
Cestoda
Cyclophyllidea
Hymenolepididae
Vampirolepis

description: Vampirolepis sp. (1)
Site of infection: Small intestine
Host: Rhogeessa parvula
Locality: Campamento Camarones (21°37’27.2” N, 106°37’50.4” W, 42 MASL), Islas Marías, Nayarit
Prevalence and intensity: 33.3% (1/3) and 7
Specimen deposited: CNHE 12136
GenBank accession number: PQ476178
Comments: Based on three immature specimens and one scolex observed at SEM. Scolex oval to rounded, 140‒200 in diameter (Figures 2D, 3A). Suckers unarmed, cup-shaped, 58‒68 in diameter. Rostellum broad, 60‒70 in diameter, armed with 17‒20 hooks in single row (Figures 2D, 3B). Hook length 27‒30.
The specimens described here were included in the genus Vampirolepis based on the presence of armed rostellum, because they are parasites of bats (Makarikova 2018), and by the molecularly established phylogenetic position (see below). Based on the number of rostellar hooks, the most similar species are Vampirolepis artibei (Zdzitowiecki & Rutkowska) (vs. 20–23) and Vampirolepis bidentatus (Zdzitowiecki & Rutkowska) (vs. 18–22) (Zdzitowiecki & Rutkowska 1980); however, the hooks of our specimens are longer than those of V. artibei (vs. 19–20) and V. bidentatus (16–17). The remaining 18 species recorded in the Americas, Vampirolepis bihamata (Sawada & Harada), Vampirolepis chiropterophila (Pérez-Vigueras), Vampirolepis christensoni (Macy), Vampirolepis crassihamata (Sawada & Harada), Vampirolepis dalvae (dos Santos, Simões, D´Andrea, Verde, Maldonado Júnior, Cartagena, Ubiali & Luque), Vampirolepis decipiens (Diesing), Vampirolepis elongatus (Rego), Vampirolepis gertschi (Macy), Vampirolepis guarany (Rego), Vampirolepis longisccata (Sawada & Harada), V. macroti, Vampirolepis mazanensis (Vaucher), Vampirolepis pandoensis (Sawada & Harada), Vampirolepis phyllostomi (Vaucher), Vampirolepis promopsis (Vaucher), Vampirolepis roudabushi (Macy & Rausch), Vampirolepis santacruzensis (Sawada & Harada), and Vampirolepis temmincki (Vaucher), have differences in the number and the length of rostellar hooks compared with the studied specimens. This study adds the first record of the genus Vampirolepis for R. parvula in Mexico.
Vampirolepis sp. (2)
Site of infection: Small intestine
Host: Rhogeessa parvula
Locality: Cleofas (21°19’19.3” N, 106°14’41.6” W, 98 MASL), Islas Marías, Nayarit
Prevalence and intensity: 33.3% (1/3) and 3
Specimen deposited: CNHE 12137
GenBank accession number: PQ476179
Comments: Based on one immature specimen and one scolex observed at SEM. Scolex 168 in diameter. Suckers unarmed, 66 in diameter (Figures 2E, 3C). Rostellum broad, 65‒70 in diameter, armed with 17‒18 hooks in single row (Figures 2E, 3D). Hook length 30‒32. These characteristics closely resemble Vampirolepis sp. (1); however, the phylogenetic position and genetic distance (see phylogenetic section) of the 28S rRNA sequences confirm that they are different species.
description: Published as part of Moguel-Chin, Wilson I., Digiani, María Celina, Macswiney, M. Cristina, Ortega, Jorge, Ospina-Garcés, Sandra M., García-Prieto, Luis, Canché-Pool, Elsy B., Robles, María Del Rosario, Ávila-López, Mariana B., Chan-Casanova, Anyela Jackelin & Panti-May, Jesús Alonso, 2025, Intestinal helminths of bats in the States of Nayarit and Veracruz, Mexico, with redescription of Bidigiticauda vivipara Chitwood, pp. 329-346 in Zootaxa 5566 (2) on pages 335-336, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5566.2.5, http://zenodo.org/record/14702996