Descriptions of eight new species of Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977 (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) from Red Sea mullets

Abstract

Eight new species of Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977 (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) are described from two species of mullets from the Red Sea. Ligophorus bykhowskyi n. sp. and L. zhangi n. sp. from Crenimugil crenilabris (Forsskål) differ from other species of the genus in the structure of the male copulatory organ, which has a simple accessory piece and a wide copulatory tube that arises from a large, single-chambered, expanded base. Ligophorus simpliciformis n. sp., L. bipartitus n. sp., L. campanulatus n. sp., L. mamaevi n. sp., L. lebedevi n. sp. and L. surianoae n. sp. from Liza carinata (Valenciennes) are differentiated on the basis of the morphometrics of the hard parts of the haptor and male copulatory organ. The eight species represent the first records of species directly attributed to Ligophorus from the Red Sea. Measurements of the haptoral hard-parts and the male copulatory organ of the new species are analysed with the aid of Principal Component Analysis. Three morphological types of male copulatory organ, five types of anchor, and two types of ventral and three types of dorsal bars were distinguished among these species. L. bykhowskyi and L. zhangi from C. crenilabris have the same type of male copulatory organ and anchors. Those species from Liza carinata have only one common morphological character, a thick copulatory tube, but have two types of accessory piece, four types of anchors and three types of bars. All species of Ligophorus found on mullets in the Red Sea have an accessory piece without a distal bifurcation and thus differ from most species of this genus from other regions of the world's oceans.

Parasite fauna of Golden Grey Mullet Liza aurata (Risso, 1810) collected from Lower Kızılırmak Delta in Samsun, Turkey

“…L -Thylodelphys clavata; M, N, O -Neoechinorhychus agilis; P, Q, R -Ergasilus lizae Scale bars: M -500 µm; L, O, P -100 µm; N, Q -50 µm; R -20 µm expanded by Rubtsova et al (2006) on M. cephalus in the Black and Azov Seas. Ligophorus cephali has also been reported to be specific to M. cephalus in different sampling areas (Rubtsova et al, 2006;Dmitrieva et al, 2009a,b;Dmitrieva et al, 2012). Both, Ligophorus cephali and L. mediterraneus are the first records for Turkish parasitic fauna in fish as well.…”

“…Here in the present study, two species of Ligophorus and one species of Microcotyle were identified. Twelve species of Ligophorus are strictly specific to mugilids; including Ligophorus cephali and L. mediterraneus on Mugil cephalus (Sarabeev et al, 2005;Dmitrieva et al, 2012). There are several reports of only Microcotyle mugilis parasitizing golden grey mullet, and there is no report on Ligophorus cephali and L. mediterraneus on this fish species at present (see Table 1).…”

“…These infection indices provided above show a clear effect of salinity on this parasite species. Studies on monogenean parasites of Liza aurata are very limited (see Table 1) and only 7 parasite species reported from Mediterranean, Azov and Black Seas so far (Gaevskaya & Dmitrieva 1997;Dmitrieva & Gaevskaya 2001;Mariniello et al, 2004;Merella & Garippa 2001;Ragias et al, 2005;Dmitrieva et al, 2012). Here in the present study, we have identified Ligophorus cephali and L. mediterraneus in the gills of L. aurata for the first time making the sum of 9 monogenean species reported from this fish species where survive.…”

“…There have been several published studies on the parasite fauna of this fish species (see Table 1 for detailed list). Dmitrieva et al (2012) also provided updated information on Ligophorus species which are all specific to mugilids. However, research studies on the parasite fauna and parasite ecology of golden grey mullet are very rare and still incomplete.…”

Parasite fauna of the grey mulletMugil cephalusL. 1758, and its relationship with some ecological factors in Lower Kızılırmak Delta located by the Black Sea, Turkey

“…The monogeneans found herein have been reported in several mugilids (see Table 1). Strict host-specificity is a common phenomenon among monogeneans, and all species of Ligophorus are strictly specific to mugilids, including L. cephali and L. mediterraneus which are specific to M. cephalus (Sarabeev et al 2005;Dmitrieva et al 2012). The known geographical and host range of L. mediterraneus has been expanded by subsequent records on M. cephalus in the Black and Azov Seas (Rubtsova et al 2006).…”