Redescription of Haliotrema obesum (Caballero y C., Bravo Hollis, and Grocott, 1955) Young, 1968 (Monogenoidea: Dactylogyridae), with New Host and Locality Records from Marine Puffers (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) in Australia and Egypt

Abstract

Haliotrema obesum (Caballero y C., Bravo Hollis, and Grocott, 1955) Young, 1968 (Dactylogyridae) is redescribed from specimens collected from the white-spotted puffer, Arothron hispidus (Linnaeus) in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia, where its occurrence represents a new faunal record for the bay. The species is also reported on A. hispidus and the masked puffer, Arothron diadematus (Rüppel) collected from the Red Sea off Safaga, Egypt, and on the stellate puffer, Arothron stellatus (Anonymous) from Moreton Bay. The finding of H. obesum in the Red Sea and on A. diadematus and A. stellatus represent new locality and host records for the helminth. Ancyrocephalus ornatus Yamaguti, 1968 from A. hispidus off Hawaii and the Palmyra Atoll is treated as a junior subjective synonym of H. obesum. The dactylogyrid is retained in Haliotrema (sensu lato) pending development of a diagnosis for Haliotrema (sensu stricto) and of a better understanding of the taxonomic limits of similar dactylogyrid genera.