Acta Parasitologica, Vol.45, No. 4, 2000, 362 Wedrychowicz Halina -
Nematode Parasites of Vertebrates. Their Development and Transmission (Ed. R. C. Anderson),
2nd edition,
CABI Publishing CAB International 2000, ISBN 0 85199 421 0, 650 pp.
(1)W. Stefanski Institute of Parasitology, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland;
Nematodes are among the most abundant organisms on the earth and occur in
a range of habitats.
Many of them (more than 5000 described species) are parasites of fish,
amphibian, reptiles, birds
and mammals. In the book on review more than 800 nematode species
parasitising in vertebrates
are mentioned while modes of life and means of transmission of 595
species are presented. The
scope of the book reflects the Author's experience as co-editor of Keys
to the Nematode Parasites
of Verterbrates (a series of 10 volumes produced under the editorship of
R. C. Anderson, A. C.
Chabaud and S. Willmott 1975 1985, published by CAB). As in previous
edition, the emphasis is
always on the principles and diversity of nematode life cycles and
developmental and general
biology inside the host. The book is organised principally by the
systematics of the Nematoda
phylum. The volume is divided into 3 major sections: Introduction then
Part I (Class Secernentea)
divided into 6 chapters responding to nematode orders and Part II (Class
Adenophorea) which
includes 2 chapters. In introduction the Author gives a short
descriptions of major phenomena
concerning development, types of hosts, principles of transmission, modes
of infecting the
definitive hosts. Each order and superfamily is introduced with an
overview of the habits of its
members and in species-by species sections not only the known and
accepted, but also the
dissenting and historical data are reviewed. Each chapter includes at the
end numerous, in most
cases updated references. The illustrations throughout the text are very
clear. However, luck of
anatomical explanations make them quite difficult to understand for a
reader not familiar with
nematode anatomy (physicians, vets etc). In my opinion, the book would be
much more "reader
friendly" if the introduction included also the generalised anatomy of an
adult female and male
nematode.
The Author made an effort to introduce some recent molecular developments
in
differentiation of some nematode species (for example within genera of
Metastrongylus and Trichinella) but a lot of interesting
molecular data is missing. During the last decade a very
important data have been gathered from sequence analysis of parasitic
nematode rDNA genes.
Nuclear rDNA of eukaryotic organisms is a large multi-gene family
consisting of tandemly
arrayed sequence repeats. From systematic point of view it is important
that rDNA sequences
exhibit patterns of "non-independent evolution" of repetitive sequences,
resulting in greater
sequence similarity within a species than between the species.
Consequently, rDNA provide
useful genetic markers for the parasite nematode identification, studying
parasite taxonomy and
phylogeny. For instance, comparative analysis of rDNA sequences has
allowed the detection of
cryptic species within Hypodontus macropi complex (nematode
parasite from
Australian
macropodid marsupial) or Cylicostephanus minutus complex (a small
strongylid parasite of
horses). Sadly the group of small strongyles, which includes more than 40
parasitic nematode
species extremely prevalent in horses, is only mentioned in the
introduction to the family
Strongylidae and the references quoted are from the first half of the 20
century. Also, nematodes
parasitising in European wild ruminants are rather poorly presented. The
genus of
Spiculopteragia is missing as well as specific for wild ruminants
species from genera of
Trichostrongylus, Nematodirus, Trichuris, and
Onchocerca. As mentioned above, out of more
than 5000 species of nematodes parasitising vertebrates only about 10% is
described in the book
and the criterion of selection of the 595 species is not entirely clear.
The index is exhaustive in its listing of nematode species and usefully
replete with
technical terms, unfortunately lacking in references to hosts.
In spite of above criticisms, anyone who requires a solid knowledge
concerning of the
basic features of the development and transmission of major parasitic
nematodes of vertebrates
placed in a historical context can be confidently recommended to read the
book.
The book will also be a suitable text for specialist courses in
veterinary and biology
colleges for students who have some training in invertebrate zoology or
parasitology.
KEY WORDS: Nematode parasites of Vertebrates.
Page compiled by Aleksander H.Kedra. Last modification:
11-12-2000