Rebecca Russell Co-Authors Article in International Parasitology Journal

2017 Jan 17

Rebecca Russell of Pine City, NY, has co-authored an article describing five new species of tapeworms in Folia Parasitologica, a peer-reviewed, open-access, international journal covering all branches of animal parasitology.

Nine SUNY Oneonta alumni (all former undergraduate biology majors) collaborated with Associate Professor of Biology Florian Reyda on the research over a period of six years and are co-authors on the publication.

In the article, titled, "A new genus of rhinebothriidean cestodes from batted elasmobranchs, with the description of five new species and two new combinations," Reyda and a colleague describe a new genus (group of species) of tapeworm from stingrays. "Stillabothrium" is named for the tear-dropped shape of one of its features, the bothridia of its scolex (attachment structures). A total of five new species of tapeworms are described, each by different combinations of student co-authors and Reyda. In each case, students picked the names of the new species and prepared scientific illustrations of them.

Russell worked primarily on several of the new species, including one Stillabothrium species that has not been published yet.

"One of the buzzwords in biology is biodiversity, or biological diversity," said Reyda. "There are all these species and we have knowledge of a lot of them, but we're always asking, 'What species are still out there that humans have not yet discovered?' The significance of this research is just simply filling in a major knowledge gap about the natural world. We're the first people to look at those worms."

Two of Reyda's colleagues collected the parasite specimens in Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and Senegal and turned them over to him and his students for analysis. All of the work was done at SUNY Oneonta's Biological Field Station on Otsego Lake, where the students also learned how to collect fish parasite specimens to gain a better understanding of the project.

Russell is the ROPS Hotline coordinator for the New York Center of Agricultural Health and Safety, a preventative arm of the Bassett Healthcare Network that works to reduce occupational injuries among farmers.

"The thing that sticks out the most about my time in the research lab is the confidence that Dr. Reyda instills in all his students," she said. "He gave us the skills and the mindset to do anything, encouraging us all to do our best and to challenge ourselves. "

This work was supported by a collaborative National Science Foundation grant on which Reyda was a participant, as well as by several student research grants funded by the SUNY Oneonta Foundation.