Plasmodium alaudae

• Main Authors: Chavatte, Jean-Marc, Grès, Virginie, Snounou, Georges, Chabaud, Alain, Landau, Irène
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Chromista; Miozoa; Eucoccidiida; Plasmodiidae; Plasmodium; Plasmodium alaudae; Alauda arvensis
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/5467669; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5467669

Plasmodium alaudae (Celli & Sanfelice, 1891) (Fig. 2C) MATERIAL EXAMINED. — France. Landes, Saint-Julienen-Born, 44°03’42’’N, 1°13’33’’W, blood smears of A. arvensis number 740U, 25.X.1996 (MNHN P2 - XXV, 24-43); 741U, 25.X.1996 (MNHN P2 -XXV, 44-64). DISTRIBUTION. — Italy (Celli & Sanfelice 1891); new record for the Landes, France. HOSTS. — Pica pica (type host); new record for Alauda arvensis. REDESCRIPTION The parasites are small in size, and are found located at the apex of non-modified RBCs where nuclei are not displaced or only a little. The schizonts are compact and rounded, and the nuclei, eight in number, are dense roughly round with a clear centre. The cytoplasm is relatively abundant with a few dispersed vacuoles and two granules of black pigment. The gametocytes have not been identified but are probably elongated. TAXONOMIC STATUS Celli & Sanfelice (1891) described Haemoproteus alaudae (later trasferred to Plasmodium) in the blood of the skylark. At that time the authors elected to reserve Plasmodium to the parasites of humans. This species was considered to be composed of three types in the blood that were distinguished by the time required for development. When the figures published by these authors are carefully examined (Celli & Sanfelice 1891: pl. III), it became clear that they were in fact dealing with multiple species, not an unexpected occurrence in skylarks: a large species with schizonts of 22-30 nuclei where the RBC nuclei are displaced or even expelled (Celli & Sanfelice 1891: figs 19-21), a smaller apical species with 8 or 9 nuclei that does not displace the RBC nucleus or only little (same, figs 16, 17), a latero-apical species with 18 nuclei where the RBC nuclei is unaffected (same, fig. 18), and finally a very small species with 8 nuclei where the RBC is slightly rounded and its nucleus displaced (same, fig. 15). For the most part these species could not be confidently ascribed to a known species. However, the taxon H. alaudae could be retained for the form ...