Morphological variability in Acanthocephaloides irregularis Amin, Oğuz, Heckmann, Tepe & Kvach, 2011 (Acanthocephala: Arhythmacanthidae) from the European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (L.) (Moronidae) in Bizerte Lagoon, Tunisia

Abstract

Specimens of an arhythmacanthid acanthocephalan were recovered from the European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (L.) (Perciformes: Moronidae) in Bizerte Lagoon, northern Tunisia. The specimens collected showed high morphological similarities to Acanthocephaloides irregularis Amin, Oğuz, Heckmann, Tepe & Kvach, 2011, recovered from four species of marine fishes in the Gulf of Odessa and Sukhyi Lyman off the Ukrainian Black Sea coast. Light and scanning electron microscopy revealed some morphological differences from the Black Sea specimens in trunk spine distribution, number of proboscis hooks in males (4 instead of 5), and lack of demonstrable trunk collar. These variations suggest that our specimens may only be a morphotype of A. irregularis with new host and locality records. A comparison between our specimens and those of the original description clarifies the possible reasons of this intraspecific morphological variability.