A new species of Plectognathotrema Layman, 1930 (Trematoda: Zoogonidae) from an Australian monacanthid, with a molecular assessment of the phylogenetic position of the genus.

Abstract

During helminthological examinations of teleost fishes of Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, a new species of the enigmatic genus Plectognathotrema Layman, 1930 was discovered infecting the pot-bellied leatherjacket Pseudomonacanthus peroni (Hollard). The new species, Plectognathotrema kamegaii n. sp., is formally described, and the status of its four congeners is reviewed. Plectognathotrema hydrolagi Olson, Hanson & Pratt, 1970 is not recognised within the genus, as it differs greatly from its congeners in the form and arrangement of the vitellarium, testes and uterus, and in that it was described from a holocephalan. Plectognathotrema cephalopore Layman, 1930 and P. tsushimaense Kamegai, 1970 are morphologically similar, were described from the same host species and from close geographical localities and are considered synonymous. The new taxon is most similar to P. cephalopore, but differs from it in being much smaller and possessing a distinctly larger oral sucker relative to its body size. The generation of novel partial 28S ribosomal DNA sequences allowed a phylogenetic assessment of the genus and demonstrated that Plectognathotrema clearly belongs in the Zoogonidae Odhner, 1902, rather than in the Fellodistomidae Nicoll, 1909, where it is currently assigned. With the inclusion of Plectognathotrema in the Zoogonidae, there are now three zoogonid genera for which the species are restricted to monacanthid teleosts, i.e. Cephaloporus Yamaguti, 1934, Plectognathotrema and Yamagutiplectognathotrema Parukhin, 1977. Species of these genera share pronounced morphological and ecological affinities and a previously synonymised subfamily, the Cephaloporinae Yamaguti, 1934, is resurrected for them. The host specificity of these trematodes is commented upon.