New plagioporines (Digenea: Opecoelidae) from deep-sea fishes of the North Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

Three new species of digenean are described from demersal fishes taken in deep waters of the northwestern and northeastern Atlantic Ocean: Podocotyle schistotesticulata n. sp. from Antimora rostrata; P. harrisae n. sp. from Coryphaenoides (Lionurus) carapinus; and Gaevskajatrema halosauropsi n. sp. from Halosauropsis macrochir. The status of the nominal species of the genus Podocotyle Dujardin, 1845 is presented in annotated summary, along with a tabulation of the distinctive characteristics of recognised species of the genus. Gaevskajatrema Gibson & Bray, 1982 is discussed and its diagnosis amended.

Psilolintonum lineatum (Linton, 1928) (Echinostomatoidea: Psilostomidae) re-allocated to Podocotyle (Allocreadioidea: Opecoelidae) on the basis of a re-examination of the type material

“…P. olssoni, see Bray and Campbell 1996). Morphologically Linton's specimens agree well with the descriptions of P. reflexa by Odhner (1905) andMiller (1941) as well as with the recent data on this species (Køie 1981, Gibson andBray 1982).…”

“…included by Bray and Campbell (1996) in their conception of this genus, namely P. angulata (Dujardin, 1845), P. boneti Caballero et Caballero, 1970, P. enophrysi Park, 1937, P. radifistuli (Acena, 1941, P. reflexa (Creplin, 1825), P. scorpenae (Rudolphi, 1819), P. sinusacca Ching, 1960, P. temensis Fischthal et Thomas, 1970, and P. theragae (Lloyd, 1938.…”

“…However, comparisons based on additional morphological features which proved to be important for species discrimination (see Bray and Campbell 1996) such as the anterior extent of vitellarium and the shape of the ovary and testes, shorten this list to a single species, P. reflexa (syn. P. olssoni, see Bray and Campbell 1996).…”

Pseudopecoelus mccauleyi n. sp. and Podocotyle sp. (Digenea: Opecoelidae) from the deep waters off Oregon and British Columbia with an updated key to the species of Pseudopecoelus von Wicklen, 1946 and checklist of parasites from Lycodes cortezianus (Perciformes: Zoarcidae)

“…Our study also reports the second known opecoelid from this fish ( Table II). As far as we are aware, the unidentified individual of Podocotyle described herein is the first report of a member of a species of Podocotyle parasitizing a species of Coryphaenoides from off Oregon (we note that the type host for Podocotyle harrisae Bray and Campbell, 1996 was Coryphaenoides carapinus Goode and Bean, 1883, but this host was captured from the New York/New Jersey Bight in the NW Atlantic Ocean -see Bray and Campbell 1996).…”

New genus of opecoelid trematode from Pristipomoides aquilonaris (Perciformes: Lutjanidae) and its phylogenetic affinity within the family Opecoelidae

“…of the three deep-sea species in our phylogeny, G. halosauropsi is from the greatest depth (2 570 m; see Bray and campbell 1996) and is sister to the two slopespecies, Podocotyloides brevis and Neolebouria lanceolata. Bray and campbell (1996) described G. halosauropsi from Halosauropsis macrochir (günther) and amended the generic diagnosis of Gaevskajatrema to include forms with a lobed ovary.…”