Elaeophora
Encyclopedia
- Elaeophora is also a synonym for the plant genus PlukenetiaPlukenetiaPlukenetia is a genus of plant of the family Euphorbiaceae. It comprises 15 species, found from Africa to Malesia.-Synonyms:*Accia A.St.-Hil.*Angostylidium Pax & K.Hoffm.*Apopandra Pax & K.Hoffm.*Botryanthe Klotzsch...
.
Elaeophora Railliet & Henry, 1912 is a genus of parasitic
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
nematodes which live attached to the interior surfaces of major arteries, veins and/or heart chambers in various large mammal hosts. Infestation with Elaeophora species is referred to as elaeophorosis. The species of Elaeophora have been found in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Despite the fact that they produce aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
s in the arteries and heart of their hosts which measure up to 2 cm in diameter, overt clinical symptoms of infestation are seldom reported, with the notable exception of E. schneideri infestation in sheep, elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, and moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
.
Taxonomy
The type speciesType species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
, Elaeophora poeli (Vryburg 1879) Railliet and Henry 1912, was first described as Filaria poeli in 1879. In 1912, the genus Elaeophora was created to distinguish this species from the other species of the genus Filaria. Elaeophora was made the senior synonym
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
of the genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Alcefilaria and Cordophilus in 1976.
Species
Elaeophora abramovi
Elaeophora abramovi is a nematode parasite found in the hepatic arteries of the Moose in Russia.-Discovery and nomenclature:...
(Oshmarin & Belous, 1951) Anderson & Bain, 1976, found in Moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
(Alces alces) in Russia
Elaeophora bohmi
Elaeophora bohmi is a nematode parasite found in various arteries of the horse. The adult males are 44-55 mm long and 95 µm wide, while adult females can be over 12 cm long and 210 µm wide. Microfilariae are not sheathed, and measure 300-330 µm long and 6-7 µm wide. The life cycle and clinical...
Supperer, 1953, found in horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s in Austria and Iran;
Elaeophora elaphi
Elaeophora elaphi is a nematode parasite found in the blood vessels of the liver in Red Deer in certain parts of Spain. The adult male measures 77 mm long and 549 µm wide, adult females are 91-109 mm long and 793-1049 µm wide, and microfilariae are 225 µm long. Though adult E...
Hernandez-Rodriguez, Martinez-Gomez & Gutierrez-Palomino, 1986, found in Red Deer
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
(Cervus elaphus) in Spain;
Elaeophora poeli
Elaeophora poeli is a parasitic nematode found in the aorta, and sometimes the heart, of various cattle throughout Asia, and in parts of Africa. It is a large nematode, with males measuring 45-70 mm long and 200-260 µm wide, and females 40-300 mm long and 350 µm wide. Microfilariae are 340-346 µm...
(Vryburg 1879) Railliet and Henry 1912, found in various cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
in Asia and Africa;
Elaeophora sagitta
Elaeophora sagitta is a parasitic nematode found in the heart, coronary arteries and pulmonary arteries of several ruminant species and Water buffalo in Africa...
(Linstow, 1907) Anderson & Bain, 1976, found in various antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
(Tragelaphus sp.), eland
Taurotragus
Taurotragus, commonly called Eland, is a genus of antelopes of the African savannah, containing two species: the Common Eland and the Giant Eland...
, and African Forest Buffalo
African Forest Buffalo
The African Forest Buffalo is smaller than the Cape Buffalo, with horns that curves out backwards and upwards. Usually weighing , they are reddish brown in color. Its native habitat is the equatorial forest found in central and western Africa, and its diet consists primarily of grasses, twigs, and...
in Africa;
Elaeophora schneideri
Elaeophora schneideri is a nematode which infests several mammalian hosts in North America. It is transmitted by horse-flies. Infection in the normal definitive hosts, Mule deer or Black-tailed deer, seldom produces clinical symptoms...
Wehr & Dikmans, 1935, found in various deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
, sheep, elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, and moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
in North America.
General life cycle
Detailed life cycle studies have been reported for only one species of Elaeophora so far - E. schneideri. Microfilariae (not eggs) are shed by the adult female from her attachment site inside the lumenLumen (anatomy)
A lumen in biology is the inside space of a tubular structure, such as an artery or intestine...
of the carotid artery
Carotid artery
Carotid artery can refer to:* Common carotid artery* External carotid artery* Internal carotid artery...
of the definitive host
Parasitic life cycles
Parasite life cycles can take a variety of forms, all involving the exploitation of one or more hosts. Those that must infect more than one host species to complete their life cycles are said to have complex or indirect life cycles, while those that infect a single species have direct life...
. The microfilariae are carried through the blood stream and become lodged in the small capillaries
Capillary
Capillaries are the smallest of a body's blood vessels and are parts of the microcirculation. They are only 1 cell thick. These microvessels, measuring 5-10 μm in diameter, connect arterioles and venules, and enable the exchange of water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and many other nutrient and waste...
of the skin in the head and facial areas. Blood-feeding horse flies
Horse-fly
Insects in the order Diptera, family Tabanidae, are commonly called horse flies. Often considered pests for the bites that many inflict, they are among the world's largest true flies. They are known to be extremely noisy during flight. They are also important pollinators of flowers, especially in...
ingest the microfilariae, which develop into infective larvae in the fly. The infective larvae enter a new definitive (mammal) host through the bite wound when the fly feeds again. The infective larvae migrate to secondary arterial
Artery
Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. This blood is normally oxygenated, exceptions made for the pulmonary and umbilical arteries....
sites, where they mature before migrating to the carotid artery
Carotid artery
Carotid artery can refer to:* Common carotid artery* External carotid artery* Internal carotid artery...
. In the carotid artery, they mature into adults and reproduce sexually to produce microfilariae. It is assumed that the life cycles of other species of Elaeophora follow this general pattern.