A new genus and species ofthe trypanorhynch family Otobothriidae Dollfus, 1942 from the slender weasel shark Paragaleus randalli Compagno, Krupp & Carpenter (Hemigaleidae) in the Persian Gulf.

Abstract

A survey on the cestode fauna of Paragaleus randalli Compagno, Krupp & Carpenter in the Persian Gulf resulted in the discovery of a new trypanorhynch species of the family Otobothriidae Dollfus, 1942, the second otobothrioid species hosted by the family Hemigaleidae Hasse. The new species exhibits the closest morphological similarity to Pristiorhynchus palmi Schaeffner & Beveridge, 2013, the type- and only species of its genus. However, the new species differs from P. palmi in the position of the bothrial pits, the morphology and oncotaxy of the basal armature, the commencement of the hook files on the internal surface, a wider scolex peduncle in the pars bulbosa than in the pars vaginalis, a long neck and the presence of a lateral bothrial groove connecting the two bothrial pits to each other. The latter character is a unique trait within the Otobothrioidea Dollfus, 1942. Considering such differences, a new genus, Olgaella n. g., was erected to accommodate O. elenae n. g., n. sp. within the Otobothriidae. The evolutionary relatedness of the bothrial pits of the Otobothrioidea and the bothrial grooves of the Lacistorhynchoidea Guiart, 1927 is discussed.