Dactylogyrids (Monogenoidea, Polyonchoinea) parasitizing the gills of snappers (Perciformes, Lutjanidae): Proposal of Haliotrematoides n. gen. and descriptions of new and previously described species from marine fishes of the Red Sea, the eastern and Indo-west Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea

Abstract

Twenty six of 28 species of snappers (Lutjanidae), examined for dactylogyrids (Monogenoidea) from the Red Sea, the Indo-west and eastern Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, were infected: 18 species with Euryhaliotrema spp., 17 with species of Haliotrematoides n. gen. and eight with species of undetermined dactylogyrid genera. Two species of fusiliers (Caesionidae) and one species of porgy (Sparidae) were also examined and found positive for species of Haliotrematoides. Haliotrematoides n. gen., supported by both 18S rDNA and 28S rDNA analyses, was proposed for 15 new and 15 previously described species of Haliotrema (s. l.) from lutjanid, caesionid and sparid hosts: Haliotrematoides hatzenbuehlerae n. sp., Haliotrematoides brachyflagellocirrus n. comb., Haliotrematoides caesionis n. comb., Haliotrematoides calcaris n. comb., Haliotrematoides cornigerum n. comb., Haliotrematoides gracilihamus n. comb., Haliotrematoides guttati n. comb., Haliotrematoides heteracantha n. comb., Haliotrematoides isolens n. sp., Haliotrematoides lanx n. sp., Haliotrematoides longihamus n. comb., Haliotrematoides longitubocirrus n. comb., Haliotrematoides magnigastrohamus n. comb., Haliotrematoides mastigion n. sp., Haliotrematoides mediohamides n. sp., Haliotrematoides mediohamus n. comb., Haliotrematoides nagibinae n. sp., Haliotrematoides noncalcaris n. comb., Haliotrematoides noncalcaroides n. sp., Haliotrematoides novaecaledoniae n. sp., Haliotrematoides overstreeti n. sp., Haliotrematoides parvicirrus n. comb., Haliotrematoides patellacirrus n. comb., Haliotrematoides plectridium n. sp., Haliotrematoides potens n. sp., Haliotrematoides prolixohamus n. sp., Haliotrematoides shenzhenensis n. comb., Haliotrematoides spinatus n. sp., Haliotrematoides tainophallus n. sp., Haliotrematoides zhukovi n. sp. The new genus was characterized by dactylogyrids having 1) an unique hook distribution with pairs 1, 2, 3, 7 on the peduncle or trunk of the body, pair 5 associated with the point and distal shaft of the ventral anchors, and pairs 4 and 6 located at the level of the anchor bases or shifted anteriorly to the union of the haptor and peduncle; 2) dorsal anchors lacking well-developed deep roots and having perforated bases, elongate relatively straight shafts, and superficial grooves on the distal portions of the shafts and/or points; 3) ventral anchors with developed basal roots, an elongate shaft, and superficial grooves along the distal portions of the shafts and/or points; 4) a ventral bar usually with two submedial pockets along the anterior margin; and 5) a copulatory complex lacking an accessory piece. New host and locality records for some previously described species were reported.