NEW RECORD OF BRACHYDISTOMUM MICROSCELIS (YAMAGUTI, 1933) (TREMATODA, DICROCOELIIDAE) FROM HOUSE SPARROWPASSER DOMESTICUS BIBLICUS HARTERT, 1904 IN BAGHDAD, IRAQ

A total of 30 specimens of house sparrow Passer domesticus biblicus Hartert, 1904 (15 females and 15 males) were collected from gardens of some houses in Baghdad city; all birds were dissected to identify the parasites in vesicle, gizzard, intestine, gall bladder and caecum. One species of trematodes Brachydistomum microscelis (Yamaguti, 1933) was found in the gall bladder and two species of cestodes Anonchotaenia globata (von Linstow, 1879) and Raillietina tetragona (Molin, 1858) were found in the small intestine of house sparrow. Morphologic and morphometric measurements were considered. The genus Brachydistomum Travassos, 1944 is being recorded for the first time in Iraq in the gall bladder of house sparrow, as it was not previously recorded from birds in Iraq.

Only few previous studies on house sparrow parasites in Iraq were carried out, only two studies about blood parasites were published (Shamsuddin and Mohammad, 1980;Mohammad, 1990). The study of Abdulabas (2005) found that two species of cestodes in the intestine of the house sparrow in Al-Najaf province. Then, Mohammad and Al-Moussawi (2012) recorded nematodes in gizzard in Baghdad city. Recently, Jenzeel et al. (2015) and Alsaadi et al. (2016) recorded seven species of cestodes in small intestine of house sparrow in Tikrit city, Iraq.
The aim of the current study is to isolate and identify Brachydistomum microscelis from the gall bladder of house sparrow for the first time in Iraq.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 30 specimens of house sparrow (15 females and 15 males) were collected by netting traps from gardens of some houses in Baghdad city Iraq, from March 2018 to July 2019. All birds were dissected to identify the parasites in the biological lab in the College of Education for Pure Sciences (Ibn Al Haitham), University of Baghdad. The parasites were fixed in 70% ethanol, and then sent to the Iraq Natural History Research Center and Museum for staining and identifying according to Yamaguti (1958) and Bray et al. (2008). All specimens were dyed with the acetocarmine stain and then dealt with ascending concentrations of alcohol passages. Finally, all slides were fixed with Canada balsam following Kinsella and Forrester (1972). All parasites were examined for morphologic and morphometric measurements; examination were performed by digital camera, in addition to the drawing the drawing of the trematode had been done by Lucida camera.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Only four of the 30 birds which dissected in the present study (13.33 %), were found infected with two types of parasites, trematodes and cestodes.
The current study revealed that the female of house sparrow was infected with the trematoda Brachydistomum microscelis (two specimens) in the gall bladder and three other birds (2 females and one male) were infected with cestodes in the gut Anonchotaenia globata (two specimens) and Raillietina tetragona (three specimens).
The current study revealed a new record of the trematoda Brachydistomum microscelis according to Yamaguti, (1958) and Bray et al. (2008) Yamaguti, 1933 According to the reference Yamaguti (1958) (Yamaguti, 1933) Macroscopic description (Based on Brachydistomum microscelis specimens) Body lanceolate, its length is approximately 3.3-3.5 millimeters, transparent, tends to be golden color, the anterior end is flexed ventrally and the posterior end is flexed dorsally, taking a distinctive shape, as in Plate (1).

Plate (1):
Macroscopic form of B. microscelis from house sparrow in Baghdad, Iraq; by digital camera 12 pixels.

Microscopic description (Based on Brachydistomum microscelis specimens):
The long body glides narrowly until it is exposed in the ventral sucker that represents the breadth area, curving slightly ventrally, and then the body tapers back to the rounded end. This sharply demarcated the main character for the genus Brachydistomum (Pl.2). Cuticle smooth, oral sucker subterminal, it seems oval wide opening directly into a small globular pharynx, esophagus short, ceca not reaching to the posterior end of the worm. Ventral sucker (Acetabulum) in the anterior half of the body; it is more extensive and broader than the oral sucker (Pl.3).
Testes are nearly round, diagonal or tandem, close to ventral sucker and one another; both of them lay behind of Actabulum area (Pl.4). Ovary submedian, is close to posterior testis. Cirrus pouch is well-developed pre acetabular; genital pore median.
Vitellaria follicles are comparatively broad, composed of few large follicles forming two bands or clusters in the middle third of body (Pl.4). Uterus is extensive and much coiled occupying most of hind body and intrudes into fore body that distributed the eggs in most of the body, (Pl.2). Eggs are numerous, oval, of golden color and turned to dark brown when mature. Excretory vesicle is simple, long, tubular, appear under 400x as Y shape in the posterior end of the body, excretory pore terminal (Pl.5). Measurements and drawings of the characteristics are clarified in Table (  The results of the current study recorded two cestodes: Anoncotaenia globata and Raillietina tetragona these results were similar to the results of Jenzeel et al. (2015) who recorded A. globata with infection rate 1.2% and R. tetragona with infection rate 36.1% in house sparrow in Tikrit city, Iraq. Also, previously Mohammad and Al-Moussawi (2013) recorded that the house sparrow in Baghdad was a new host for the cestodes Raillietina echinobothrida with 44.6% prevalence of infection.
But regarding the recording of the trematode B. microscelis in the gall bladder of house sparrow is considered to be the first time in Iraq from all birds. This result is similar to that recorded by Ozmen et al. (2013) who found B. microscelis in the gall bladder of P. domesticus in Toros Mountains in Burdur, Turkey. Overall, there were few recordings of the genus Brachydistomum and their species in the world that summarized in Table (2).