Bangs Mj",purnomo, BABESIA-THYLACIS (APICOMPLEXA, BABESIIDAE) IN A NORTHERN QUOLL, DASYURUS-HALLUCATUS (MARSUPIALIA, DASYURIDAE), FROM WESTERN-AUSTRALIA, Journal of the Helminthological Society of Washington, 63(2), 1996, pp. 266-268
Babesia thylacis Mackerras, 1959, is provisionally identified and desc
ribed from a stained blood smear obtained from a female northern quoll
, Dasyurus hallucatus (Gould, 1842), captured on the Mitchell Plateau,
Kimberley, Western Australia. This represents the third known natural
host of this parasite and the first published account of its presence
in Western Australia. Babesia thylacis has so far been found only in
small carnivorous or insectivorous marsupials from Australia. Parasite
morphology is characteristically pleomorphic, ranging from small amoe
boid organisms to fully grown, pyriform protozoans, either single or p
aired, 2-4 by 1-1.5 mu m. In most cases, mature parasites contain a pr
ominent vacuole with a rounded nucleus either centrally or terminally
located. Nuclear material that was elongated and stretched out along t
he periphery of some organisms was not uncommon. Infected red blood ce
lls commonly contained only 1 parasite and occasionally paired merozoi
tes.