Lankesterella bufonis sp. nov. Parasitizing Toads, Bufo regularis Reuss, in Egypt*

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Abstract
SYNOPSIS. Lankesterella bufonis sp. nov., from toads, Bufo regularis Reuss, in Egypt, described herein, appears to be the first species of this genus to be found in Bufo. Sporozoites of the parasite in circulating blood are usually intracorpuscular, rarely free. Free forms, abundant in smears of internal organs, particularly from lungs, are small, slender, slightly curved bodies with the anterior end more pointed than the other. The small, oval, delicate nucleus is always situated in the posterior third of the parasite, either terminal or more usually subterminal. A single cytoplasmic vacuole is located just anterior of the nucleus and more‐or‐less centrally. Few darkly stained granules are sometimes seen around the vacuole. Though intracorpuscular forms retain morphological characteristics of the free forms, they frequently undergo peculiar changes: apparently flattening of host‐cells during smearing and fixation results in shorter and wider, and sometimes greater width of the parasite. Multiple infection with two and rarely three Lankesterella sporozoites is not uncommon. In liver and spleen smears, certain large cells, apparently of the macrophage or endothelial types, contain forms similar to those described in the peripheral blood, but mostly shorter and broader. Various developmental stages of schizonts were also seen in the liver and lung. In liver, lung, spleen, and kidney sections, numerous young forms, possibly merozoites, were scattered among tissue cells. The present parasite differs morphologically from Lankesterella minima (Chaussat, 1850), L. monilis Labbé, (1894), and L. canadensis Fantham et al., 1942.

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