External and gastrointestinal parasites of the black-faced ibis Theristicus melanopis (Pelecaniformes: Threskiornithidae) in the Los Ríos region, southern Chile.

The black-faced ibis, Theristicus melanopis, is considered a useful bird species for agricultural activity because it preys upon various invertebrate and vertebrate pests. Although it is a common species in Chile, limited information is available regarding its parasites. The main objective of this study was to recover the diversity of ectoparasites and gastrointestinal helminths in black-faced ibises living in the communes of Valdivia and Panguipulli, Los Ríos region.

Ectoparasites of Columbina passerina insularis (Columbiformes) in the National Zoological Park, Havana, Cuba.

Ectoparasites of 18 free-living Cuban Ground Doves, Columbina passerina insularis (Columbiformes: Columbidae), captured in the National Zoological Park, Havana, Cuba, were identified. The collected ectoparasites included two species of lice (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera): Columbicola passerinae (77.1%), and Physconelloides eurysema (50%), as well as four species of feather mites (Astigmata: Falculiferidae): Pterophagus lomatus (83.

Anatomical changes in postembryonic development of Pycnogonum litorale.

Sea spiders (Pycnogonida) are a small group of arthropods, sister to other chelicerates. They have an unusual adult bauplan, oligosegmented larvae, and a protracted postembryonic development. Pycnogonum litorale (Strøm, 1762) is an uncommonly long-lived sea spider with a distinctive protonymphon and adult anatomy.

Testing culture purity in prokaryotes: criteria and challenges.

Reliance on pure cultures was introduced at the beginning of microbiology as a discipline and has remained significant although their adaptive properties are essentially dissimilar from those of mixed cultures and environmental populations. They are needed for (i) taxonomic identification; (ii) diagnostics of pathogens; (iii) virulence and pathogenicity studies; (iv) elucidation of metabolic properties; (v) testing sensitivity to antibiotics; (vi) full-length genome assembly; (vii) strain deposition in microbial collections; and (viii) description of new species with name validation. Depending on the specific task there are alternative claims for culture purity, i.

New species of the feather mite genus Protolichus Trouessart, 1884 (Astigmata, Pterolichidae) from lories and lorikeets (Aves: Psittaciformes).

Five new species of the feather mite genus Protolichus Trouessart, 1884 (Astigmata, Pterolichidae) are described from parrots of the subfamily Loriinae (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae): Protolichus ornatus sp. n. from Trichoglossus ornatus (Linnaeus, 1758), P.

Feather mites (Astigmata: Psoroptidia) parasitising the rock ptarmigan Lagopus muta (Montin) (Aves: Galliformes) in Iceland.

Four new species of feather mites are described from the Icelandic rock ptarmigan Lagopus muta islandorum (Faber) in Iceland. These are Metamicrolichus islandicus n. sp.

The probable association of feather mites of the genus Ingrassia (Analgoidea: Xolalgidae) with the blue penguin Eudyptula minor (Aves: Sphenisciformes) in Australia.

A new feather mite species, Ingrassia eudyptula n. sp. (Xolalgidae: Ingrassiinae), is described from the blue penguin Eudyptula minor (J.