Raphidascaris(Ichthyascaris)etelidisn. sp. (Nematoda, Anisakidae), a new ascaridoid nematode from lutjanid fishes off New Caledonia

Abstract

ABSTRACT A new nematode species, Raphidascaris (Ichthyascaris) etelidis n. sp. (Anisakidae), is described from male and female specimens found in the intestine of the deep-water longtail red snapper Etelis coruscans Valenciennes, 1862 (type host) and the crimson jobfish Pristipomoides filamentosus (Valenciennes, 1830) (both Lutjanidae, Perciformes) from off the southwestern coast of New Caledonia, South Pacific. Based on light and scanning electron microscopy examination, the new species differs from other eight representatives of the subgenus Ichthyascaris Wu, 1949 mainly in the length of spicules (345–474 µm), representing 1.5–2.5% of the body length, and in the presence of small cuticular spines on the tail tip of both sexes and 60–65 pairs of male genital papillae of which 12–13 are postanal. This is the first species of this subgenus reported from fishes of the family Lutjanidae and the second nominal species of Raphidascaris (Ichthyascaris) recorded from New Caledonian waters. Unidentifiable juvenil...