Abstract
We recognize four species in the Neoechinorhynchus agilis complex. We studied specimens of Neoechinorhynchus (Hebesoma) personatus Tkach, Sarabeev & Shvetsova, 2014 from Mugil cephalus in the Mediterranean Sea off Tunisia and in the Black Sea, and also specimens of Neoechinorhynchus ponticus n. sp. from Chelon auratus Risso in the Black Sea. Specimens from M. cephalus at both locations were similar. All structures of N. ponticus n. sp. were considerably smaller than those of N. personatus. Two other species of the N. agilis complex are recognized: Neoechinorhynchus agilis (Rudolphi, 1819) sensu stricto from various hosts in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and Neoechinorhynchus yamagutii Tkach, Sarabeev & Shvetsova, 2014 from M. cephalus and Planiliza haematocheila in the Pacific, especially the Sea of Japan. Neoechinorhynchus dimorphospinus Amin & Sey, 1996 from marine fish in the Persian Gulf and the Pacific Ocean off Vietnam may be a candidate for membership in the N. agilis complex. X-ray scans of gallium cut and intact hooks of N. personatus and N. ponticus showed differences in the mineral content of hooks with higher sulfur levels in smaller hooks and in hooks from specimens in the Black Sea compared to specimens from the Mediterranean. The relatively high genetic differences between N. ponticus n. sp. and other species of Neoechinorhynchus using a partial 18S rDNA dataset support its independent status. Neoechinorhynchus ponticus n. sp. and N. personatus have a common ancestor with species of Neoechinorhynchus collected from saltwater fish.
Highlights
Rudolphi [30] originally described the external morphology and proboscis receptacle of Neoechinorhynchus agilis (Rudolphi, 1819) Van Cleave, 1916 from 9 individuals taken from Mugil cephalus in Spezia, Italy without providing any measurements
This study provides molecular profiles of N. ponticus n. sp. and N. personatus based on 18S rDNA gene
Specimens of N. personatus from M. cephalus were deposited in the Harold W. Manter Laboratory (HWML) collections no. 102006 and those of N. ponticus from C. auratus in the HWML collection no. 102005
Summary
Rudolphi [30] originally described the external morphology and proboscis receptacle of Neoechinorhynchus agilis (Rudolphi, 1819) Van Cleave, 1916 from 9 individuals taken from Mugil cephalus in Spezia, Italy without providing any measurements. Other observers including Linton [19,20,21], Van Cleave [36, 37], Meyer [23], Yamaguti [40, 41], Petrochenko [24], Gaevskaya et al [10], and Tepe and Oguz [34] reported N. agilis from at least 10 species of fish in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, among other locations off the coasts of Scotland, North America, and Japan This species complex appears to be widely distributed in mullets from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans ([31, 35], among others). Van Cleave [37] provided a detailed description of the variability in “N. agilis” based on the examination of Rudolphi’s specimens and other materials from the Berlin Museum (Table IV of Van Cleave [37])
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