Ancyrocephalidae (Monogenea) of Lake Tanganyika: I: Four new species of Cichlidogyrus from Ophthalmotilapia ventralis (Teleostei: Cichlidae), the first record of this parasite family in the basin

Abstract

Examination of gill parasites from Ophthalmotilapia ventralis (Boulenger, 1898) in Lake Tanganyika (Africa) revealed the presence of four new species of Monogenea, all members of Cichlidogyrus Paperna, 1960 (Ancyrocephalidae). In view of the systematic importance of haptoral structure, the fish host shows a remarkable diversity of morphological groups. Cichlidogyrus vandekerkhovei sp. nov. and C. makasai sp. nov. are especially characterized by the unusual length of the dorsal transverse bar auricles, while C. sturmbaueri sp. nov. is distinguished by the unique shape of the accessory piece of its male copulatory organ. Importantly, C. centesimus sp. nov. displays a number of features new to the genus, namely a spirally coiled thickening at the end of the penis, the absence of an accessory piece in the genital apparatus, and a hitherto unknown uncinuli configuration in the haptor. This is the first record of ancyrocephalid parasites from the Tanganyika basin. Some mechanisms possibly contributing to this yet unknown diversity are discussed, identifying topics deserving further scientific scrutiny

Ancyrocephalidae (Monogenea) of Lake Tanganyika: II: description of the first Cichlidogyrus spp. parasites from Tropheini fish hosts (Teleostei, Cichlidae)

“…One prostatic reservoir. Male copulatory complex with penis and accessory piece (Vanhove et al (2011b) Etymology: named after mathematician and biologist Maarten Van Steenberge (Belgium), specialist of African freshwater fish diversity, and a good colleague and friend of the authors.…”

“…The gill parasite Cichlidogyrus Paperna, 1960 is the most widespread and speciose genus with 75 recognised species (Pariselle and Euzet 2009;Vanhove et al 2011b). While its representatives are not known to harm fish stocks in Africa and the Middle East (Paperna 1996), considerable pathogenicity was reported under anthropogenic conditions in Southeast Asia (Kabata 1985).…”

“…A co-phylogenetic analysis on species from West African Tilapiini taught that species richness seems underestimated due to cryptic species and demonstrated ecological transfers and parallel speciation events (Pouyaud et al 2006). However, Monogenea of Lake Tanganyika did not receive attention, until a remarkable genetic and phenotypic diversity was shown in Gyrodactylus von Nordmann, 1832 (Vanhove et al 2011a) and morphologically atypical representatives of Cichlidogyrus were described (Vanhove et al 2011b).…”

An overview of the Gyrodactylus (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae) species parasitizing African catfishes, and their morphological and molecular diversity

“…This is a limited number compared to the more than 400 valid Gyrodactylus spp. worldwide (Harris et al 2004), or to the 78 species of Cichlidogyrus Paperna, 1960 in Africa, Madagascar and the Levant (Pariselle and Euzet 2009;Vanhove et al 2011b;Gillardin et al 2011). C. gariepinus is known to host five African Gyrodactylus species.…”

Reduced host-specificity in a parasite infecting non-littoral Lake Tanganyika cichlids evidenced by intraspecific morphological and genetic diversity

“…Although the first record of parasitic flatworms in Lake Tanganyika stems from a study on cestodes from 19149, the knowledge about the diversity and role of parasitic organisms in this unique environment is still poor and fragmentary. In the last years, parasitological research in the lake has mainly focused on the monogenean fauna of its cichlids and the number of described species is increasing101112131415161718. Monogenea van Beneden, 1858 is one of the most species-rich groups of Platyhelminthes1920 with more than 3,500 already described species21.…”