Bothriocephalidean tapeworms (Cestoda) of freshwater fish in Africa, including erection of Kirstenella n. gen. and description of Tetracampos martinae n. sp.

Abstract

A survey of bothriocephalidean tapeworms (Cestoda) parasitizing African freshwater fish is provided. Based on criticalevaluation of type specimens and extensive, newly collected material, only the following seven species, instead of 19 taxalisted in the literature, are considered to be valid and their redescriptions are provided: Bothriocephalus acheilognathiYamaguti, 1934 (with 3 synonyms from Africa); Bothriocephalus claviceps (Goeze, 1782) (marginally in Africa);Ichthybothrium ichthybori Khalil, 1971; Kirstenella gordoni (Woodland, 1937) n. comb. (1 synonym); Polyonchobothriumpolypteri (Leydig, 1853) (4 synonyms); and Tetracampos ciliotheca Wedl, 1861 (4 synonyms). In addition, Tetracamposmartinae Kuchta n. sp. is proposed for tapeworms from the catfish Bagrus meridionalis from Lake Malawi. The new speciesdiffers from T. ciliotheca in a much larger body (19 cm versus 3 cm), dorsoventally flattened strobila and numerous (39 versus25–35) and longer apical hooks (up to 98 µm versus less than 50 µm). Kirstenella Kuchta n. gen. is proposed to accommodateSenga gordoni Woodland, 1937 as its type species. The new genus is distinguished from other genera of the Bothriocephalidaeby the presence of an apical disc armed with two lateral semicircles of large hooks, cortical vitelline follicles and large-sizedcirrus-sac. All but one valid species were recollected. Bothriocephalidean cestodes are widely distributed throughout Africa,but only two species, B. acheilognathi and T. ciliotheca, occur in other continents. All but one species (B. acheilognathi)exhibit narrow host specificity, being limited either to one host species (K. gordoni in Heterobranchus bidorsalis and T.martinae in Bagrus meridionalis) or one host genus (I. ichthybori in Ichthyborus spp., P. polypteri in Polypterus spp. and T.ciliotheca in Clarias spp.). Molecular data based on partial sequences of the large subunit rDNA (lsrDNA) show monophyletic position of all African taxa analysed (B. acheilognathi, I. ichthybori, K. gordoni, P. polypteri and T. ciliotheca).

Parasite communities of the elongate tigerfish Hydrocynus forskahlii (Cuvier 1819) and redbelly tilapia Tilapia zillii (Gervais 1848) from Lake Turkana, Kenya: influence of host sex and size

“…The eyes, intestines, visceral organs and pericardial cavity were all examined for parasites. Most of the parasites were identified using identification keys and key literature at the University of Vienna and at the Museum of Natural History, Vienna (Paperna 1980(Paperna , 1996Pariselle and Euzet 1995, 1998Scholz et al 2004;Le Roux and Avenant-Oldewage 2010;Abowei and Ezekiel 2011;Kuchta et al 2012). The terms used to describe the metacestodes are according to Chervy (2002).…”

The first record of the invasive Asian fish tapeworm (Schyzocotyle acheilognathi) from an endemic cichlid fish in Madagascar

“…Schyzocotyle acheilognathi has been reported from 9 countries of Africa including Morocco (new geographical and host records from Carasobarbus fritchii (Günther, 1874), Luciobarbus massaensis (Pellegrin, 1922), L. rifensis Doadrio, Casal-Lopez & Yahyaoui, 2015, L. yahyaouii Doadrio, Casal-López & Perea, 2016 and L. rabatensis Doadrio, Perea & Yahyaoui, 2015 – unpublished data of the present authors). However, no data on its occurrence in Madagascar are available (Gibson et al, 2005; Kuchta et al, 2012).…”

Seasonal occurrence of metazoan parasites in Tigerfish, Hydrocynus vittatus Castelnau, 1861 (Characiformes: Alestidae) from Sanyati Basin, Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe

“…Fish of the genus Hydrocynus seem to be paratenic, accidental or post-cyclic hosts of both riocephalidean cestodes (Kuchta et al 2012). This was also confirmed in this study as Ichthybothrium sp.…”

“…Parasites were collected from the fins, skin, gills, liver, body cavity, mesentery, stomach, intestines, kidney, brain cavity, swim bladder, muscle and eyes. Observed parasites were identified using the keys of Barson and Avenant-Oldewage (2006), Douëllou and Erlwanger (1994), Luus-Powell, Jooste and Junker (2008), Kuchta et al (2012) and Kičinjaová et al (2017). Monogeneans, Lamproglena sp.…”