Cestodes of the family Anoplocephalidae parasitize a wide range of usually herbivorous hosts including e.g. rodents, ungulates, primates, elephants and hyraxes. While in some hosts, the epidemiology of the infection is well studied, information is lacking in others. In this study of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massif, an extensive sample set comprising adult cestodes collected via necropsies, proglottids shed in feces, and finally, fecal samples from both night nests and identified individuals were analysed. Anoplocephala gorillae was the dominant cestode species detected in night nest samples and individually known gorillas, of which only 1 individual hosted a Bertiella sp. It was shown that the 2 species can be distinguished through microscopy based on egg morphology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for diagnostics of both species were provided. Sequences of mitochondrial (cox 1) and nuclear (ITS1, 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA) markers were used to evaluate the phylogenetic position of the 2 cestodes detected in mountain gorillas. Both types of fecal samples, from night nests and from identified individuals, provided comparable information about the prevalence of anoplocephalid cestodes, although the analysis of samples collected from identified gorilla individuals showed significant intra-individual fluctuation of A. gorillae egg shedding within a short period. Therefore, multiple samples should be examined to obtain reliable data for wildlife health management programmes, especially when application of anthelmintic treatment is considered. However, while A. gorillae is apparently a common symbiont of mountain gorillas, it does not seem to impair the health of its host.

• Keywords
• Anoplocephala, Anoplocephalidae, Bertiella, Gorilla beringei, Rwanda, mountain gorilla, parasite ecology, parasite epidemiology,
• MeSH
• Cestoda * genetics   MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• Gorilla gorilla * MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal MeSH
• Parks, Recreational MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Rwanda epidemiology   MeSH
• Names of Substances
• DNA, Ribosomal MeSH

The tapeworm species Bertiella satyri from a semi-wild Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii: Ponginae) is redescribed and the sequence of its 18S rDNA is presented. The tapeworms parasitizing the genera Pan, Pongo, Homo and Hylobates from Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris and from Muséum d´Histoire Naturelle, Genève are also presented. The validity of B. satyri is confirmed. B. satyri (BSA) differs from the most similar species Bertiella studeri (BSTU) in the following characteristics: (1) testes number, BSTU 300-400; BSA 116-124, (2) genital opening, BSTU regularly alternate; BSA irregularly alternate, (3) Cirrus-sac, BSTU short, 0.250-0.320, does not reach excretory ducts; BSA long, 0.630 × 0.495, reaches excretory ducts, (4) egg size, BSTU 0.053-0.060; BSA 0.030-0.051, (5) host BSTU Pan troglodytes, Africa; BSA Pongo pygmaeus, P. abelii, Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra). Both species differ according to our material and the name B. satyri (Blanchard, 1891) is resurrected.

• MeSH
• Animal Structures anatomy & histology   MeSH
• Cestoda anatomy & histology   classification   genetics   isolation & purification   MeSH
• Cestode Infections parasitology   MeSH
• DNA, Helminth chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal Spacer chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• Microscopy MeSH
• Molecular Sequence Data MeSH
• Primate Diseases parasitology   MeSH
• Pongo abelii parasitology   MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S genetics   MeSH
• Sequence Analysis, DNA MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Indonesia MeSH
• Names of Substances
• DNA, Helminth MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal Spacer MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S MeSH