Gyrodactylus eyipayipi sp. n. (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae) from Syngnathus acus (Syngnathidae) from South Africa

Abstract

Gyrodactylus eyipayipi sp. n. is described from the skin, gills, flute and male brood pouch of captive specimens of the greater pipefish Syngnathus acus L., collected for and maintained at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, South Africa. It is the first marine Gyrodactylus species reported from the African continent. The new species is compared to the three known Gyrodactylus species affecting syngnathiform hosts (G. pisculentus Williams, Kritsky, Dunnigan, Lash et Klein, 2008, G. shorti Holliman, 1963, and G. syngnathi Appleby, 1996. Although all four species have similar-sized and shaped attachment hooks with some overlap, separation of the species is possible using marginal hook morphology. The marginal hooks of G. eyipayipi measure (mean) 30 µm in total length and are larger than those of the three other species (mean, 24-28 µm). Gyrodactylus eyipayipi can also be discriminated based on differences in the shape of the marginal hook sickle notably by its long sickle point which extends far beyond the toe, its blunt rounded toe and, by the approximate rectangular shape to the base of the sickle. By comparison, the sloping toe regions of G. pisculentus and G. syngnathi give the sickle bases an approximately triangular shape, whilst the short sickle point and open aperture to the sickles of G. shorti allow for their discrimination from G. eyipayipi.

Marine fish parasitology in South Africa: history of discovery and future direction

“…A year later Vaughan and Chisholm (2010a) described Heterocotyle tokoloshei Vaughan and Chisholm, 2010 from the gills of a single short-tail stingray, Dasyatis brevicaudata, kept in captivity at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, South Africa. In the same year Vaughan and Chisholm (2010b) also described Neoheterocotyle robii Vaughan and Chisholm, 2010 from the gills of the lesser guitarfish Rhinobatos annulatus, followed by the description of Myxinidocotyle eptatreti from the skin of the sixgill hagfish, Eptatretus hexatrema , and that of Gyrodactylus eyipayipi Vaughan, Christison, Hanson and Shinn, 2010 from the skin, gills, flute and male brood pouch of captive specimens of the greater pipefish Syngnathus acus. The latter species was the first marine Gyrodactylus species reported from the African continent .…”

Neotropical Monogenoidea 59. Polyonchoineans from Characidium spp. (Characiformes: Crenuchidae) from southern Brazil

“…cable et al 2005, Paladini et al 2011, or simply incorporates a description of the nucleotide composition of a fragment of ribosomal DNA (e.g. Vaughan et al 2010) Undoubtedly, these procedures provide information on the phylogenetic position of the specimens under study and some support for the proposal of a new species, but they do not satisfy the criteria of identity and monophyly mentioned above.…”

The description of Gyrodactylus corleonis sp. n. and G. neretum sp. n. (Platyhelminthes: Monogenea) with comments on other gyrodactylids parasitising pipefish (Pisces: Syngnathidae)

“…Measurements of the five proteolytic digested specimens were compared to those presented in Vaughan et al (2010) and found to fall within the measurement range for each variable. Three additional structures not presented in table 2 of Vaughan et al (2010), i.e.…”

“…the hamulus inner curve length, the hamulus point curve angle, and the ventral bar process length, are presented for the first time in the current study (Table 1). Photographs and drawings of the haptoral hooks of the newly acquired material were compared with those shown in Vaughan et al (2010) and are presented in Fig. 2a-e. As there was good agreement between the measurements of the five specimens made in the current study with those made by Vaughan et al (2010), the morphometric data from 48 specimens (5 from this study; the raw data for the 43 specimens measured and kindly provided by D. Vaughan) were included in the PCA.…”

“…The gyrodactylids collected from the skin, fins and gills of pipefish were subjected to a morphological analysis of the attachment hooks and the morphometric data were compared to the four species of Gyrodactylus previously described from syngnathid hosts, namely G. eyipayipi Vaughan, Christison, Hansen et Shinn, 2010, G. pisculentus Williams, Kritsky, Dunnigan, Lash et Klein, 2008, G. shorti Holliman, 1963 and G. syngnathi Appleby, 1996. Principal components analysis (PCA) of the morphological data indicated six clusters; two discrete groups among the specimens taken from the pipefish held in the Italian aquarium and four further groups representing G. eyipayipi, G. pisculentus, G. shorti and G. syngnathi.…”