New host and distribution records for Aplectana hamatospicula (Ascaridida: Cosmocercidae) in Gastrophryne olivacea (Anura: Microhylidae) from the Great Plains U.S.A.

Aplectana hamatospicula is a nematode that parasitizes the large intestine of anurans, and has been reported from bufonids, eleutherodactylids, hylids, microhylids, and ranids from North and Central America. Aplectana hamatospicula was first described, over 70 yr ago, from Hyla eximia and Bufo peltocephalus from Mexico and Cuba, respectively, and reported from Gastrophryne carolinensis from Florida. Since then there have been no reports of this nematode in North America north of Mexico. The life cycle of A. hamatospicula is not known, and there is limited information on Aplectana spp. from North America. During 2010-2011, we collected 351 anurans of 8 species from 4 locations in Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma, U.S.A., and examined them for the presence of Aplectana spp. Of the 8 species of anurans surveyed, A. hamatospicula infected only the Great Plains narrowmouth toad (Gastrophryne olivacea). The prevalence of A. hamatospicula was 85.7% (12/14) with a mean abundance of 28.4 + 24.0 and a mean intensity of 33.1 + 22.8 worms per infected toad. We provide new morphological measurements for male and female A. hamatospicula along with new locality records for this nematode in North America.