A New Species ofPontobdella(Hirudinida: Piscicolidae) from California with a Redescription of the GenusPontobdella

New host and distribution record of Pontobdella macrothela (Schmarda, 1861) (Annelida, Hirudinea) from a Grey Reef Shark, Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos (Bleeker, 1856), in Mozambique, Western Indian Ocean

“…The widespread distribution of P. macrothela, which this report adds to, is frequently attributed to oceanic elasmobranch hosts (Sawyer et al 1975, Burreson andPassarelli 2015). However, many reported P. macrothela hosts are associated with coastal environments and typically exhibit restricted coastal movements (Yamauchi et al 2008, Wunderlich et al 2011.…”

“…Based on descriptions by Sawyer et al (1975) and Burreson and Passarelli (2015) our specimen corresponds with the morphological descriptions of P. macrothela. This new record of P. macrothela from Mozambique contributes to the known range of this marine leech species by confirming its range along the coast of East Africa.…”

“…The species was identified as P. macrothela using the key by Sawyer et al (1975). Additional literature consulted for identification included Furiness et al (2007) and Burreson and Passarelli (2015).…”

“…The specimen was brown in color and had characteristic large, rounded wart-like tubercles on the tegument. Importantly, the specimen had an unmistakable large caudal sucker of 2-3 times the size of the oral sucker, and large circular eyespots on the oral sucker as described in the dichotomous key by Sawyer et al (1975) and further detailed by Burreson and Passarelli (2015) (Fig. 1a, b).…”

“…There are 23 known species of piscicolid leeches adapted to feed on the high-urea content of elasmobranchs, all of which are proboscis-bearing ectoparasites that inhabit exterior sites of their hosts such as fins and claspers as well as orifices such as the mouth (Llewellyn 1966, Caira and Healy 2004, Kvist et al 2016. Pontobdella macrothela (Schmarda, 1861) has a widespread distribution in the warm waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans (Sawyer et al 1975, Burreson andPassarelli 2015) with at least 20 known elasmobranch hosts (Caira and Healy 2004, Yamauchi et al 2008, Pollerspöck and Straube 2015, Daly et al 2019. Nonetheless, the full range of geographical extent and elasmobranch host species of P. macrothela remain unknown.…”