A New Species of Podocotyloides (Digenea: Opecoelidae) From the Grey Conger Eel, Conger esculentus, in the Caribbean Sea

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-1-2013

Department

Coastal Sciences, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory

Abstract

Podocotyloides brevis n. sp. (Digenea: Opecoelidae) is described from Conger esculentus Poey, 1861, from the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. It can be separated from the other 13 accepted species in the genus by having a shorter cirrus sac, both in length and relative length. Podocotyloides brevis, with a cirrus sac length less than 10% of the body length, most closely resembles Podocotyloides dorabus Lokhande, 1990, which has a cirrus sac that is approximately 16% of the body length. It can be further differentiated from P. dorabus by having ovarian and testicular lengths greater than the oral sucker length. This is the first report of a member of this genus from the Caribbean Sea and from a host species collected as deep as 200 m. A key to the recognized members of Podocotyloides Yamaguti, 1934, is also presented.

Publication Title

Journal of Parasitology

Volume

99

Issue

4

First Page

619

Last Page

623

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