Raillietiella teagueselfi n. sp. (Pentastomida: Cephalobaenida) from the Mediterranean gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus (Sauria: Gekkonidae), in Texas

Raillietiella teagueselfi n. sp. is described from the lungs of the Mediterranean gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus, in Houston, Texas, U.S.A. This new pentastomid is most closely related to R. affinis Bovien, 1927, of Asiatic Tokay geckos (Gekko gecko) in Indonesia, but mature males differ in possessing rounded posterior hooks with swollen, blunt-tipped barbs, instead of relatively sharp-tipped hooks. In addition, the annulus number of females can readily differentiate the new species from 6 of the 10 blunt-tipped species (R. gehyrae Bovien, 1927; R. hemidactyli Hett, 1934; R. maculatus Rao and Hiregauder, 1959; R. monarchus Ali et al., 1984; R. mabuiae (Heymons, 1922); and R. scincoides Ali et al., 1984). Two of the remaining 3 species of blunt-tipped raillietiellids (R. frenatus Ali et al., 1981, and R. maculibris Ali et al., 1984) are differentiated from female R. teagueselfi by having larger hook dimensions. The new species can be distinguished from R.freitasi (Motta and Gomes, 1968) by having a hooked spicule. Observations on the prevalence and intensity of infections are presented.