A revision of the trichostrongylid nematode Cooperia Ransom, 1907, from deer game: recent integrative research confirms the existence of the ancient host-specific species Cooperia ventricosa (Rudolphi, 1809)

Front. Vet. Sci. 11:1Ʒ46417. doi: 10.ƷƷ89/fvets.2024.1Ʒ46417 COPYRIGHT Arevision of the trichostrongylid nematode Cooperia Ransom, 1907, from deer game: recent integrative research confirms the existence of the ancient host-specific species Cooperia ventricosa (Rudolphi, 1809) Martina Albrechtová 1, Eva Štefková Kašparová 1, Iva Langrová 1 *, Vlastimil Hart 2, Birger Neuhaus 3, Ivana Jankovská 1, Miroslav Petrtýl 1, Jan Magdálek 1 and Marta Špakulová 4 1 Department of Zoology and Fisheries, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Science Prague, Prague, Czechia, 2 Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Science Prague, Prague, Czechia, ƷMuseum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Berlin, Germany, 4 Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, Slovakia © 2024 Albrechtová, Kašparová, Langrová, Hart, Neuhaus, Jankovská, Petrtýl, Magdálek and Špakulová.

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The trichostrongylid roundworms of the genus Cooperia, which are important in veterinary medicine, currently comprise 19 valid species that parasitize the small intestine of both free-living and domestic ruminants. Only four Cooperia spp. have been reported in Europe, namely C. oncophora, C. punctata, C. curticei and C. pectinata. In 2018–2022, 25 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and Ʒ0 sika deer (Cervus nippon) of both sexes and various ages from several remote locations in the Czech Republic were parasitologically examined.

Intestinal nematodes of the genus Cooperia were found only in two northern regions. Using the globally recognized key book on trichostrongylid nematodes, they were preliminarily identified as C. pectinata. However, a molecular analysis of cox 2 and ITS rDNA genesequencesrevealed that Cooperia sp. parasitizing Czech deer is a separate taxon that is more closely related to C. oncophora than to C. pectinata.

Asubsequent morphological analysis and literature survey confirmed the independence of deer Cooperia sp., which is similar but not identical to bovid C. pectinata. Previous long-term correct identifications of bovid C. pectinata and misidentifications of deer Cooperia species were caused by a fundamental errorinthe key bookmentioned above. Interestingly, the ancienttrichostrongylid nematode Strongylus ventricosus from the type host red deer (Cervus elaphus) shot near Greifswald (Germany) was described by Rudolphi in 1809.

Rudolphi’s type material (one male and four females) was deposited in the Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin). Later, the ancient species S. ventricosus was taken as a synonym for various Cooperia spp. Our current re-examination of the type male indicated that there is a relatively good agreement with our new material from Czech deer regarding the most important characteristics of S. ventricosus (i.e., the shape and size of the male spicules); however, Rudolphi’s type material is in ratherpoor condition.

The suggestedresurrection of the deer Cooperia sp. in this study as Cooperia ventricosa (Rudolphi, 1809) requires verification by collecting and analyzing new nematode material from the type locality near Greifswald.