Pseudorhabdosynochusspecies (Monogenoidea, Diplectanidae) parasitizing groupers (Serranidae, Epinephelinae, Epinephelini) in the western Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters, with descriptions of 13 new species
Abstract:Seventeen of twenty-three species of groupers collected from the western Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters were infected with 19 identified species (13 new) of Pseudorhabdosynochus Yamaguti, 1958 (Dactylogyridea, Diplectanidae); specimens of the Spanish flag Gonioplectrus hispanus, coney Cephalopholis fulva, marbled grouper Dermatolepis inermis, mutton hamlet Alphestes afer, and misty grouper Hyporthodus mystacinus were not infected; the yellowmouth grouper Mycteroperca interstitialis and yellowfin grouper My… Show more
“…Kritsky, Bakenhaster & Adams (2015) compared specimens from both sides of the Atlantic, did not find any morphological features that distinguished specimens from these localities, and concluded, as did Santos, Buchmann & Gibson (2000), that the specimens were conspecific. In contrast to our findings for P. sulamericanus , in that case the hosts were also conspecific ( M. marginata) .…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 92%
“…However, in specimens from H. niveatus , the primary canal—primary chamber continuity could be seen, but we evaluated far fewer of these specimens and so cannot be sure about the range of morphological variability in this structure. The additional sclerotised material is visible in the drawings of the original description and probably mentioned as “enclosed in muscular, funnel-shaped organ” (Santos, Buchmann & Gibson, 2000); it is mentioned in its redescription as “surrounded by variable small sclerites” (Kritsky, Bakenhaster & Adams, 2015); none of these authors used a DIC microscope which provides a better resolution of the hollow sclerotised organs. 10.7717/peerj.2233/fig-5Figure 5 Pseudorhabdosynochus sulamericanus from Hyporthodus haifensis , haptor hard parts and squamodisc.(A, D) ventral bar, with method of measurement of length; (B) ventral anchor; (C) dorsal anchor; (E) lateral (dorsal) bar; (F) ventral squamodisc.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Pseudorhabdosynochus querni has a vaginal structure very different from that of P. sulamericanus (Yamaguti, 1968; Yang, Gibson & Zeng, 2005); P. firmicoleatus has a somewhat similar vaginal structure (Kritsky, Bakenhaster & Adams, 2015) but can also be distinguished by other characteristics (see above).…”
Little is known of the diversity of the monogenean parasites infesting deep-sea groupers, and there is even less information available about their geographic distributions within the ranges of their hosts. To improve our understanding of these host-parasite relationships we conducted parasitological evaluations of the deep-water Haifa grouper Hyporthodus haifensis from the southern Mediterranean off Tunisia and Libya. We collected more than one species of diplectanid monogeneans from this host, but among these only one dominant species was abundant. This proved to be morphologically very similar to Pseudorhabdosynochus sulamericanus Santos, Buchmann & Gibson, 2000, a species originally described from the congeneric host H. niveatus off Brazil and also recorded from H. niveatus and H. nigritus off Florida. Here, we conducted a morphological comparison between newly collected specimens and those previously deposited in museum collections by other authors. Further, we used COI barcoding to ascertain the specific identity of the three host species to better elucidate the circumstances that might explain the unexpectedly broad distribution of P. sulamericanus. We assigned our specimens from H. haifensis to P. sulamericanus primarily on the basis of morphological characteristics of the sclerotized vagina. We also noted morphological characteristics of eastern and western Atlantic specimens that are not clearly described or not given in previous descriptions and so prepared a redescription of the species. We confirmed, by COI barcoding, that no sister-species relationships were evident among the three hosts of P. sulamericanus. Our observation that P. sulamericanus infects unrelated host species with putatively allopatric distributions was unexpected given the very limited dispersive capabilities and the high degree of host specificity common to members of Pseudorhabdosynochus. This transatlantic distribution raises questions with regard to phylogeography and assumptions about the allopatry of Atlantic grouper species from the Americas and Afro-Eurasia. Here, we propose some hypothetical explanations for our findings.
“…Kritsky, Bakenhaster & Adams (2015) compared specimens from both sides of the Atlantic, did not find any morphological features that distinguished specimens from these localities, and concluded, as did Santos, Buchmann & Gibson (2000), that the specimens were conspecific. In contrast to our findings for P. sulamericanus , in that case the hosts were also conspecific ( M. marginata) .…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 92%
“…However, in specimens from H. niveatus , the primary canal—primary chamber continuity could be seen, but we evaluated far fewer of these specimens and so cannot be sure about the range of morphological variability in this structure. The additional sclerotised material is visible in the drawings of the original description and probably mentioned as “enclosed in muscular, funnel-shaped organ” (Santos, Buchmann & Gibson, 2000); it is mentioned in its redescription as “surrounded by variable small sclerites” (Kritsky, Bakenhaster & Adams, 2015); none of these authors used a DIC microscope which provides a better resolution of the hollow sclerotised organs. 10.7717/peerj.2233/fig-5Figure 5 Pseudorhabdosynochus sulamericanus from Hyporthodus haifensis , haptor hard parts and squamodisc.(A, D) ventral bar, with method of measurement of length; (B) ventral anchor; (C) dorsal anchor; (E) lateral (dorsal) bar; (F) ventral squamodisc.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Pseudorhabdosynochus querni has a vaginal structure very different from that of P. sulamericanus (Yamaguti, 1968; Yang, Gibson & Zeng, 2005); P. firmicoleatus has a somewhat similar vaginal structure (Kritsky, Bakenhaster & Adams, 2015) but can also be distinguished by other characteristics (see above).…”
Little is known of the diversity of the monogenean parasites infesting deep-sea groupers, and there is even less information available about their geographic distributions within the ranges of their hosts. To improve our understanding of these host-parasite relationships we conducted parasitological evaluations of the deep-water Haifa grouper Hyporthodus haifensis from the southern Mediterranean off Tunisia and Libya. We collected more than one species of diplectanid monogeneans from this host, but among these only one dominant species was abundant. This proved to be morphologically very similar to Pseudorhabdosynochus sulamericanus Santos, Buchmann & Gibson, 2000, a species originally described from the congeneric host H. niveatus off Brazil and also recorded from H. niveatus and H. nigritus off Florida. Here, we conducted a morphological comparison between newly collected specimens and those previously deposited in museum collections by other authors. Further, we used COI barcoding to ascertain the specific identity of the three host species to better elucidate the circumstances that might explain the unexpectedly broad distribution of P. sulamericanus. We assigned our specimens from H. haifensis to P. sulamericanus primarily on the basis of morphological characteristics of the sclerotized vagina. We also noted morphological characteristics of eastern and western Atlantic specimens that are not clearly described or not given in previous descriptions and so prepared a redescription of the species. We confirmed, by COI barcoding, that no sister-species relationships were evident among the three hosts of P. sulamericanus. Our observation that P. sulamericanus infects unrelated host species with putatively allopatric distributions was unexpected given the very limited dispersive capabilities and the high degree of host specificity common to members of Pseudorhabdosynochus. This transatlantic distribution raises questions with regard to phylogeography and assumptions about the allopatry of Atlantic grouper species from the Americas and Afro-Eurasia. Here, we propose some hypothetical explanations for our findings.
“…Other localities: Off Rosas, Mediterranean Sea, France [ 25 ]; off Banyuls-sur-Mer, France [ 8 , 9 ]; off Ilhas Cagarras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [ 11 ]; off Ubatuba, coast of São Paulo, south-eastern Brazil [ 26 ]; off Barra Velha, State of Santa Catarina, Brazil [ 2 ]; Sfax (fish market), Tunisia (present study). The Bay of Naples, Italy is sometimes indicated as a locality based on Ulmer & James (1981) [ 27 ] but this paper does not describe the sclerotised vagina so it could be, in our opinion, any species of Pseudorhabdosynochus .…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Pseudorhabdosynochus beverleyburtonae (Oliver, 1984) Kritsky & Beverley-Burton, 1986 is a gill parasite of the dusky grouper Mycteroperca marginata in the Mediterranean Sea and both sides of the Atlantic [ 2 , 8 – 11 ]. We found that three species of Pseudorhabdosynochus from groupers assigned to Mycteroperca Gill in the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic Ocean were morphologically very close to P .…”
Pseudorhabdosynochus Yamaguti, 1958 is a species-rich diplectanid genus, mainly restricted to the gills of groupers (Epinephelidae) and especially abundant in warm seas. Species from the Mediterranean are not fully documented. Two new and two previously known species from the gills of Mycteroperca spp. (M. costae, M. rubra, and M. marginata) in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic Ocean are described here from new material and slides kept in collections. Identifications of newly collected fish were ascertained by barcoding of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences. Pseudorhabdosynochus beverleyburtonae (Oliver, 1984) Kritsky & Beverley-Burton, 1986 and P. sosia Neifar & Euzet 2007 are redescribed from type-specimens and new specimens collected off Tunisia and Libya from M. marginata and M. costae, respectively. Pseudorhabdosynochus oliveri n. sp., from M. marginata (type-host) off the Mediterranean coast of France (type-locality), is described from specimens found among voucher specimens of P. beverleyburtonae deposited by Guy Oliver in the collection of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. Pseudorhabdosynochus oliveri is distinguished by the shape of its sclerotised vagina; it was not found in the other localities investigated. Pseudorhabdosynochus hayet n. sp. is described from M. rubra (type host) off Senegal (type-locality) and Tunisia. Pseudorhabdosynochus hayet is morphologically similar to P. sosia (type-host: M. costae) but was distinguished by differences in measurements of the vagina and male copulatory organ, different host, and divergent COI sequences. The four species (P. beverleyburtonae, P. sosia, P. oliveri, and P. hayet) share common characteristics such as squamodiscs with 2 innermost circular rows of rodlets and a similar general structure of the sclerotised vagina; we propose to group them into a ‘beverleyburtonae group’ within Pseudorhabdosynochus.
Based on light and scanning electron microscopical studies, two new species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Nematoda: Philometridae) are described from two species of Mycteroperca Gill (Serranidae), marine perciform fishes, in coastal waters off Florida, USA: Philometra deburonae n. sp. from the inner side of operculum of the yellowfin grouper Mycteroperca venenosa (L.) and P. incognita n. sp. from the ovary of the gag M. microlepis (Goode & Bean). Philometra deburonae n. sp. is mainly characterised by the body length of males (1.90-2.38 mm), the length of the spicules (78-84 µm) and gubernaculum (54 µm) and the presence of small outer cephalic papillae, a pair of fairly large caudal projections and the oesophageal gland extending anteriorly beyond the nerve-ring in subgravid females. Philometra incognita n. sp. is distinguished by the caudal mound consisting of two lateral reniform parts widely separated dorsally from each other, the absence of a pair of large papillae situated posteriorly to the cloaca, the shape and structure of the distal end of the gubernaculum plus the lengths of the spicules (117-141 µm) and gubernaculum (60-81 µm) in the male, the absence of caudal projections and the comparatively large larvae in the uterus (660-675 µm long) of the gravid female, as well as, the body length of both males (2.45-3.11 mm) and gravid females (120-180 mm). The present descriptions of an additional two new philometrids increases the number of recorded nominal species of Philometra parasitising groupers (Serranidae) in the Gulf of Mexico to nine.
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