Diploproctodaeum spp. (Digenea, Lepocreadiidae) in Australian and New Caledonian waters including two new species from Tetraodontiformes and new records of related species

Abstract

Diploproctodaeum monstrosum sp. nov. is described from Arothron stellatus and A. mappa from off Lizard Island, northern Great Barrier Reef. It differs from its congeners in having a body-length ventral scoop. Diploproctodaeum triodoni sp. nov. is described from Triodon macropterus off New Caledonia. It is distinguished by the extensive vitelline fields usually reaching to the ventral sucker and the folded scoop margins. Other related species are reported from new hosts or localities and dimensions are supplied for: Diploproctodaeum haustrum from Aluterus monoceros off New Caledonia; Diploproctodaeum arothroni from Arothron hispidus off Lizard Island and Ningaloo Reef, northern Western Australia, A. nigropunctatus off Lizard Island and Arothron manilensis off New Caledonia; Diploproctodaeum macracetabulum from Abalistes stellatus on the Swain Reefs, southern Great Barrier Reef and off New Caledonia; Diploproctodaeum momoaafata from Ostracion cubicus off Lizard Island; Diploproctodaeum rutellum from Platax teira off Heron Island, southern Great Barrier Reef; Diploproctodaeoides longipygum from Abalistes stellatus on the Swain Reefs and off New Caledonia; Diplocreadium tsontso from Balistoides conspicillum off Heron Island; Bianium arabicum from Lagocephalus sceleratus off New Caledonia. Attention is drawn to apparent convergent evolution in the body form of several families of trematodes infecting tetraodontids and especially species of Arothron.

Lepocreadiidae Odhner, 1905 and Aephnidiogenidae Yamaguti, 1934 (Digenea: Lepocreadioidea) of fishes from Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia, with the erection of a new family and genus

“…These authors pointed out the similarity of these worms to those described from L. lunaris by Hafeezullah ( 1970 ) under the name B. plicitum (Linton, 1928) from off Chennai (as Madras) in the Bay of Bengal and by Shen & Tong ( 1990 ) under the name B. dayawanense Shen & Tong, 1990 from Daya Bay, China [in this case the host is quoted as L. lunaris spadiceus (Richardson)]. The lateral flanges of the Bay of Bengal worms are similar to those seen in our specimens and the dimensions are close to those found by Sey ( 1996 ) and Bray et al ( 2010a ) (Supplementary Table S1). The Chinese worms tend to be larger and the flanges are illustrated as distinct flaps reaching only to the ventral sucker level.…”

“…Bray et al ( 2010a ) reported this species in Arothron stellatus and A. mappa from off Lizard Island. They pointed out that the sequence of ‘ Diploproctodaeum sp.’ from A. stellatus off Lizard Island (GenBank FJ788474), used in the study of Bray et al ( 2009 ), referred to this species.…”

“…The lepocreadioid fauna of Australian and other Indo-Pacific fishes has been ‘subjected to recent sustained study’ (Cribb & Bray, 2011 ). This has been documented in some 31 articles (see Bray et al, 2009 , and references therein; Bray et al, 2010b ; Bray et al, 2010a ); however, much work remains to be done. Some genera are large and/or complex and require molecular data to elucidate their status.…”

“…1 B). When describing specimens considered to be this species from the silverstripe blaasop Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin) off New Caledonia, Bray et al ( 2010a ) said ‘it has full-length lateral folds of the body (or scoop-sides), although the full extent is not always visible on both sides of the worm’. These authors pointed out the similarity of these worms to those described from L. lunaris by Hafeezullah ( 1970 ) under the name B. plicitum (Linton, 1928) from off Chennai (as Madras) in the Bay of Bengal and by Shen & Tong ( 1990 ) under the name B. dayawanense Shen & Tong, 1990 from Daya Bay, China [in this case the host is quoted as L. lunaris spadiceus (Richardson)].…”

Lepotrema Ozaki, 1932 (Lepocreadiidae: Digenea) from Indo-Pacific fishes, with the description of eight new species, characterised by morphometric and molecular features

“…Members of the digenean family Lepocreadiidae Odhner, 1905 are common parasites of fishes of the Indo-West Pacific region, particularly of coral reef fishes. Our systematic studies on this family in the waters around northern Australia and other sites in the region have hitherto been mostly reliant on comparative morphology (Barker et al, 1993 ; Bray et al, 1993 ; Bray & Cribb, 1996a , b , c , d ; Bray et al, 1996a , b ; Bray & Cribb, 1998 ; Bray et al, 1998 ; Bray & Nahhas, 1998 ; Bray & Cribb, 2002 , 2003 ; Bray & Justine, 2006 ; Bray et al, 2009a , b ; Bray et al, 2010a , b ; Bray & Justine, 2012 ). More recently, some progress has been made in our understanding of higher level lepocreadiid systematics (Bray et al, 2009b ; Bray & Cribb, 2012 ; Bray et al, 2018 ) by the addition of molecular evidence.…”