ONCHOCERCA SUZUKII N-SP AND O-SKRJABINI (=O-TARSICOLA) FROM A RELICT BOVID, CAPRICORNIS-CRISPUS, IN JAPAN

Two Onchocerca species are described from the relict bovid Capricornis crispus (Rupicaprinae), in japan. The species from the tendons and subcutaneous tissue of the tarsal and carpal joints is identified as O. skrjabini Rukhlyadev, 1964 (this taxon, which was poorly defined and badly restored, is used instead of O. tarsicola to avoid dispute). O. skrjabini belongs to an homogeneous group of four species parasitic in Palearctic cervids, which seems io have evolved relatively recently The morphological characteristics of the parasite of Capricornis are not sufficient to warrant the creation of a new taxon. The species from the subcutaneous tissue of the body is named O. suzukii n. sp. It belongs to a group comprising three species, parasites of antilocaprids and cervids from the Holarctic region and tropical domestic bovines, which seem io have evolved before the skrjabini group. The Japanese species does not present the hypertelic characters of the other species of the group. The microfilaria of O. suzukii is unknown. Thus it is not possible to say if this species is the some as one found in bovines (acid, perhaps, in humans) in the Oita region of Kyushu Island.