Monogeneans from Catfishes in Lake Tanganyika. I: Two new species of Bagrobdella (Dactylogyridae) from Auchenoglanis occidentalis (Siluriformes: Claroteidae)

Abstract

In the framework of the study of Siluriform fish monogeneans of Lake Tanganyika, we described two new species of Bagrobdella Paperna, 1969 from Auchenoglanis occidentalis (Valenciennes, 1840). Bagrobdella vanhovei sp. nov. is characterized by the morphology of its MCO which is unique among its congeners, presenting a non-terminal opening, whereas the other species have a terminal opening, and Bagrobdella vansteenbergei sp. nov. characterized by the size of its hooks, which are almost all of the same size, and its male copulating organ with a unique shape: a sub-terminal opening and no membrane surrounding. The Multivariate analysis done on morphometrical characters shows that the new and already described species are well individualized, except for Bagrobdella parauchenoglanii Akoumba, Pariselle, Tombi & Bilong Bilong, 2017 and Bagrobdella fraudulenta Euzet & Le Brun, 1990 (but these two species are easily distinguishable by their morphology), and that B. vanhovei sp. nov. has a great intra-specific morphometrical variation.

Monogeneans from Catfishes in Lake Tanganyika. II: New Infection Site, New Record, and Additional Details on the Morphology of the Male Copulatory Organ of Gyrodactylus transvaalensis Prudhoe and Hussey, 1977

“…It has a unique ichthyofauna that also contains about 34 catfish species [ 11 ] belonging to five families: Bagridae, Clariidae, Claroteidae, Malapteruridae, and Mochokidae [ 12 ]. The lack of information on Tanganyikan and East African catfish parasites prompted us to study the monogeneans of representatives of Siluriformes in Lake Tanganyika [ 13 ].…”

“…This study increases the number of species of monogenean flatworms known from representatives of Siluriformes in Lake Tanganyika from two [ 13 ] to three and the number of species belonging to Gyrodactylus in the lake from three [ 26 ] to four. In general, endemicity in Lake Tanganyika is high for a variety of taxa [ 27 , 28 ], including monogenean parasites [ 29 , 30 ].…”