Opalina

Abstract: . The ultrastructural appearance of cortical structures of Protoopilina australis is described. With respect to kinetosomal architecture and the supports of the surface folds, Protoopalina australis has an ultrastructural identity similar to other opalines. However, microfibrillar tracts and regular arrays of cortical vesicles—evident in Opalina and Cepedea—are absent from the binucleate genera. This new insight, combined with the recent discovery of a new genus (Protozelleriella) is used to revise our understanding of the evolution of slopalines and we favour a common origin for the multinucleate genera Opalina and Cepedea.

Abstract: During 1988 and 1989, 409 specimens of southern African Anura comprising 50 species in nine families were checked for opalinids in the cloaca. Opalina natalensis Metcalf, 1923 was found in four of 12 Phrynobatrachus natalensis (Ranidae) and O. duquesnei n. sp. in four of five Chiromantis xerampelina (Rhacophoridae). Opalina amygdala (Boisson, 1965) and O. foliacea (Boisson, 1959) are proposed as new combinations. It is suggested that the Ranidae (in particular the genera Phrynobatrachus and Ptychadena), the Hyperoliidae (in particular the genus Leptopelis) and the Rhacophoridae (with the genus Chiromantis) are among the major carriers of Opalina in the Afrotropical Region.