Development of Haemogregarina pestanae in the toad Bufo regularis

SYNOPSIS. Haemogregarina pestanae França, 1910, is apparently rare in Egypt, having been found in 1 toad Bufo regularis Reuss out of 689 examined. Capsulated capped, young thin, and young and advanced broad forms were present in the peripheral blood. Schizogony occurred in the liver. Two types of schizonts were present—macroschizonts producing 150 or more elongate oval merozoites surrounding a large residual body, and microschizonts producing 60 or less banana‐shaped merozoites often radiating from a small, eccentric residual body. Merozoites of the first type developed into a large broad form representing early schizonts of the second type. The latter developed into thin young intraerythrocytic forms and apparently later into encapsulated capped gametocytes. H. pestanae, H. aegyptia and H. tunisiensis all occur in toads (Bufo regularis for the first two, and B. mauritanicus for the third), and produce characteristic encapsulated looped gametocytes in peripheral blood. The capsules contain dark‐staining material condensed into a single well‐developed cap in H. aegyptia and 1 or 2 much smaller caps in H. pestanae; this material is scattered regularly around the parasite in H. tunisiensis. The capsule of H. pestanae is more or less cylindrical along most of its length, more slender and slightly shorter than the regularly oval capsule of H. tunisiensis or the spindle‐ or egg‐shaped capsule of H. aegyptia.