Acanthocephaloides irregularis n. sp. (Acanthocephala: Arhythmacanthidae) from marine fishes off the Ukrainian Black Sea coast

Abstract

Acanthocephaloides irregularis n. sp. (Arhythmacanthidae) is described from four species of marine fishes in the Gulf of Odessa and Sukhyi Lyman, Ukrainan Black Sea waters, making it the tenth species of the genus. The hosts are the combtooth blenny Parablennius zvonimiri (Kolombatovic) (Blenniidae), the mushroom goby Ponticola eurycephalus (Kessler) (Gobiidae), the tubenose goby Proterorhinus marmoratus (Pallas) (Gobiidae) and the black-striped pipefish Syngnathus abaster Risso (Syngnathidae). The new species is most similar to its closest relative, Acanthocephaloides propinquus (Dujardin, 1845), in proboscis shape and armature (12 longitudinal rows of 5 hooks) and the shape of the trunk, reproductive system and lemnisci, but differs in having randomly distributed trunk spines. These trunk spines are organised in circular rings of individual spines separated by aspinose zones. The new species is also unique in having an anterior trunk collar, a very large triangular cephalic ganglion, nucleated pouches at the posterior end of the proboscis receptacle, and hooks and spines with roots bearing anterior manubria. Valid and invalid species of Acanthocephaloides Meyer, 1932 are listed and a key to all ten species is included.

A comparative assessment of the morphology ofProfilicollis altmani(Acanthocephala, Polymorphidae) from crustaceans and shore birds in Peru, with special notes on hook elemental analysis (EDXA), SEM imaging, histopathology, and molecular profile

“…Variability in proboscis hooks of Acanthocephalus dirus (Van Cleave, 1931) Van Cleave and Townsend, 1936 (Echinorhynchidae) populations in North America was studied by Amin [1] who noted that largest hooks were progressively longer in more northerly populations. The larger number of hooks per row (11)(12)(13) in the Mississippi population reported by Van Cleave [74] appears "to be characteristic to the extreme south" in the Upper Mississippi. The more northern populations were more variable and included specimens with as few as 6 hooks per row in males and 8 in females [1].…”

“…Specimens of Acanthocephaloides irregularis Amin, Oguz, Heckmann, Tepe, Kvach, 2011 (Arhythmacanthidae) collected from P. marmoratus (Pallas) in Sukhyi Lyman off the Ukrainian coast were larger than those from the same host species collected from the gulf of Odessa [ 11 ]. Size differences of the trunk, proboscis, proboscis receptacle, lemnisci, and testes were attributed to the effect of factors in the geographical location affecting parasite growth and development [ 11 ]. Intraspecific variability related to geographical factors has also been demonstrated in Rhadinorhynchus trachuri Harada, 1935 (Rhadinorhynchidae).…”

“…One descriptive account of cystacanths based on 7 cystacanths studied with SEM (Figs. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] and on 20 cystacanths (13 males and 7 females) measured and studied with microscopic images (Figs. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] from whole mounts obtained from E. analoga in Peru is provided below.…”

Nematode and acanthocephalan parasites of marine fish of the eastern Black Sea coasts of Turkey

“…The infection rate of Acanthocephaloides irregularis was calculated in Proterorhinus marmoratus as 65.6% (from the Gulf of Odessa) and 81.3% (from the Sukhyi Lyman), in Syngnathus abaster as 9.1% (from the Gulf of Odessa) and 50% (from the Sukhyi Lyman), in Parablennius zvonimiri as 14.3% (from the Gulf of Odessa), and in Ponticola eurycephalus as 66.7% (from the Sukhyi Lyman) by Amin et al (2011) from the Black Sea.…”

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“…The parasites were identified based on morphological criteria. Parasite preparations were conducted according to methods indicated by Bray, Gibson and Jones (2008) for digeneans, Petter, Lebre and Radujkovic (1984); Ferrer et al (2005) for nematodes, Beveridge, Neifar and Euzet (2004) for cestodes, Amin, Oğuz, Heckmann, Tepe and Kvach (2011) for acanthocephala. Morphological diagnostic features of parasite specimens were identified using light microscope (Olympus BX53) fitted with digital camera attachment (DP50).…”