The Proteocephalus Species-Aggregate in Freshwater Centrarchid and Percid Fishes of the Nearctic Region (North America)

The Proteocephalus species-aggregate (Cestoda) in sticklebacks (Gasterosteidae) of the Nearctic Region, including description of a new species from brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans

“…Two small, insufficiently described species of Proteocephalus from cavefishes (Percopsiformes: Amblyopsidae) in Kentucky, namely Proteocephalus chologasteri Whittaker et Hill, 1968 (total length 4.2-9.7 mm) from Chologaster agassizi Putman and Proteocephalus poulstoni Whittaker et Zober, 1978 (total length 5.5 mm) from Amblyopsis spelaea DeKay (see Hill 1968, Whittaker andZober 1978), differ from the new species by the shape of the body, and in the possession of an apical sucker (42 μm and 25-47 μm in diameter, respectively), which is absent in the new species. The new species can also be distinguished from most congeneric taxa by a low number of the testes (21-35) and uterine diverticula (4-8 on each side), small suckers, the diameter of which repre-sents only slightly more than 1/3 of the scolex width, and absence of an apical sucker (present in most species of the Proteocephalus-aggregate -see Scholz et al , 2007Scholz et al , 2019.…”

“…All molecular phylogenetic analyses invariably revealed P. filicollis as a sister taxon to P. macrocephalus (Creplin, 1825), a specific parasite of eels (Anguilla spp.) in the Palaearctic and Nearctic Region, with P. pearsei as a sister lineage (Scholz et al 2019).…”

“…Therefore, taxonomic studies based on a critical examination of type and voucher specimens from museum collections supplemented by a morphological evaluation of newly collected, properly fixed material are being carried out on fish tapeworms of North American freshwater fishes. Scholz et al (2019) presented a survey of tapeworms of the Proteocephalus-aggregate (see de Chambrier et al 2004), which parasitise centrarchid and percid fishes in North America, i.e., bass (Micropterus spp. ), perch (Perca flavescens Mitchill) and pikeperch (Sander spp.).…”

First record of the American cestodeProteocephalus ambloplitis(Leidy, 1887) (Proteocephalidae) in Europe

“…Other characteristics specific for P. ambloplitis include the presence of a capsule around the larvae and infection of centrarchids. The four-lobed scolex is an important feature for distinguishing P. ambloplitis from another parasite of centrarchid fish, Proteocephalus fluviatilis Bangham, 1925 (Scholz et al ., 2019).…”

Parasitic Diseases of Fish

“…It is a tapeworm, belonging to a large group of cestodes that infect a variety of species. It is of serious health concern (Scholz 2019). The larval stage inhabits the ovary of the host, while adult Proteocephalus worms reside in the inner wall of the gut and shed eggs (egg-filled proglottids: body segments) with the fish feces.…”