Résumé: | The cosmopolitan genus <i>Streptocara</i> Railliet, Henry and Sisoff, 1912 (Nematoda: Acuariidae) comprises parasites of the upper alimentary tract of aquatic and, rarely, terrestrial birds. Two species of the genus <i>Streptocara</i> are redescribed from Bulgaria by means of light and scanning electron microscopy: <i>Streptocara crassicauda</i> (Creplin, 1829), based on specimens from <i>Larus genei</i>, <i>Larus minutus</i> (Laridae) and <i>Aythya ferina</i> (Anatidae), and <i>Streptocara recta</i> (von Linstow, 1879) from <i>Podiceps nigricollis</i> (Podicipedidae). This is the first record of <i>S. recta</i> from Bulgaria. The host and distribution records of the species of the genus <i>Streptocara</i> are reviewed. Six species are recognised as valid. <i>Streptocara crassicauda</i> (Creplin, 1829), <i>S. californica</i> (Gedoelst, 1919), <i>S. formosensis</i> Sugimoto, 1930 and <i>S. incognita</i> Gibson, 1968, seem to be parasites well-adapted to birds of the family Anatidae (Anseriformes) and occasionally found in other birds, whereas <i>S. recta</i> (von Linstow, 1879) and <i>S. longispiculata</i> Gibson, 1968, are specialists of Podicipediformes and Gaviiformes, respectively. <i>Streptocara indica</i> Fotedar and Chishti, 1974, is recognised as a junior synonym of <i>S. crassicauda</i>, and <i>Schistogendra oligopapillata</i> Zhang and An, 2002, is considered as a junior synonym of <i>Streptocara formosensis</i> Sugimoto, 1930. An identification key to the species of the genus <i>Streptocara</i> is proposed.
|