The acanthocephalan Moniliformis saudi Amin, Heckmann, Mohammed, Evans, 2016 was originally described from the desert hedgehog, Paraechinus aethiopicus (Ehrenberg) in central Saudi Arabia. The distribution of P. aethiopicus extends to North Africa and west to Mauritania. Moniliformis saudi was recently found in the Algerian hedgehog Atelerix algirus (Lereboullet) in Malta. The distribution of A. algirus is restricted to the North African and east Iberian Mediterranean coast and associated islands. Both host species cohabit and share the same feeding grounds in northern Algeria where common infections appear to take place. The morphology of specimens from both acanthocephalan populations was similar, with minor variations mostly related to the relatively larger Maltese specimens especially the trunk and the male reproductive system. Taxonomic features like the cone-shaped anterior trunk, size and formula of proboscis and hooks, the receptacle, size and shape of eggs, anatomy of the apical proboscis sensory pores, and the stellate body wall giant nuclei were, however, practically identical. SEM and microscope images of specimens of the Maltese population emphasize their qualitative characteristics such as the degree of the extreme spiral muscle development and the development of the posterior nucleated pouches of the proboscis receptacle. Proboscis hooks of specimens from both the Maltese and the Saudi populations had similarly high levels (percent weights) of calcium, moderate levels of phosphorus, and minimal levels of sulfur, magnesium and sodium marking the diagnostic value of the Energy Dispersive x-ray analysis in species recognition. Newly generated partial sequences of the 18S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 (Cox1) of the mitochondrial gene were generated from M. saudi from Malta. Moniliformis saudi from Malta, when compared with other available sequences of the same species isolates available in the GenBank database, formed a strongly supported clade with other congeners. The comparison of the molecular profiles of specimens from populations in Malta, Spain, and Saudi Arabia shows no or low genetic variation between them. Ultimately, we provide a morphological and molecular description of a new population of M. saudi from a new host species in a new geographical location, vastly exceeding the originally described ones from Saudi Arabia. A Cox 1 haplotype network inferred with 10 sequences revealed the presence of eight haplotypes, one of which was shared between the populations of Malta and Spain of M. saudi.

棘头动物Moniliformis saudi Amin, Heckmann, Mohammed, Evans, 2016 最初是从沙特阿拉伯中部的沙漠刺猬Paraechinus aethiopicus (Ehrenberg) 中描述的。 P. aethiopicus的分布范围延伸至北非，并向西延伸至毛里塔尼亚。最近在马耳他的阿尔及利亚刺猬Atelerix algirus (Lereboullet) 中发现了沙特串珠菌(Moniliformis saudi) 。 A. algirus的分布仅限于北非和东伊比利亚地中海沿岸及相关岛屿。两种宿主物种在阿尔及利亚北部共居并共享相同的觅食地，那里似乎发生了常见的感染。两个棘头动物种群的标本形态相似，细微的变化主要与相对较大的马耳他标本有关，尤其是躯干和雄性生殖系统。然而，诸如锥形前躯干、喙和钩的大小和结构、卵的容器、大小和形状、顶端喙感觉孔的解剖结构以及星状体壁巨核等分类学特征实际上是相同的。马耳他种群标本的扫描电镜和显微镜图像强调了它们的定性特征，例如极端螺旋肌发育的程度和长鼻容器后部有核袋的发育。马耳他和沙特阿拉伯种群的长鼻钩样本中钙含量（重量百分比）相似，磷含量适中，硫、镁和钠含量极低，这标志着能量色散 X 射线分析的诊断价值物种识别。 新生成的 18S 核糖体 RNA 和线粒体基因细胞色素 C 氧化酶亚基 1 (Cox1) 的部分序列是从来自马耳他的M. saudi生成的。来自马耳他的Moniliformis saudi与 GenBank 数据库中同一物种分离株的其他可用序列相比，与其他同源物形成了一个得到强有力支持的进化枝。对马耳他、西班牙和沙特阿拉伯种群标本的分子谱进行比较表明，它们之间没有遗传变异或遗传变异很低。最终，我们对来自新地理位置的新宿主物种的沙特分枝杆菌新种群进行了形态学和分子描述，远远超过了最初描述的来自沙特阿拉伯的种群。由 10 个序列推断的 Cox 1 单倍型网络揭示了 8 个单倍型的存在，其中一种是马耳他和西班牙M. saudi群体共有的。