Abstract
A new species of deep-sea digenean, Steringophorus merretti n. sp., is described from the bythitid fish Cataetyx laticeps in deep waters of the Goban Spur, Northeastern Atlantic. It is distinguishable from other described members of the genus by its tiny eggs and large cirrus-sac. A phylogenetic tree, based on 28S rDNA sequences, indicates that this species is embedded within a clade of deep-sea species and is sister to the eurybathic species S. thulini Bray & Gibson, 1980. Steringotrema robertpoulini Pérez-Ponce de León, Anglade & Randhawa, 2018 falls within the Steringophorus Odhner, 1905 clade. In view of this the morphological and biological characteristics of species of Steringophorus and Steringotrema are discussed.
Highlights
In 1999, we (Bray et al, 1999) published a phylogenetic tree exploring the possible deep-sea radiation of a group of fellodistomid digenean genera, mostly members of Steringophorus Odhner, 1905
In describing and naming this species, we hope that the sequences obtained from this rare and difficult to obtain deep-sea digenean will be used by all subsequent workers on fellodistomid phylogeny
The Goban Spur is an area of relatively shallower water that forms the southern margin of the Porcupine Seabight, a deep-water oceanic basin located on the continental margin to the west of southern Ireland
Summary
In 1999, we (Bray et al, 1999) published a phylogenetic tree exploring the possible deep-sea radiation of a group of fellodistomid digenean genera, mostly members of Steringophorus Odhner, 1905. This unnamed species is described here from specimens from the same source as that sequenced in 1999. Several authors have used the named species in subsequent explorations of the fellodistomid phylogeny (Sun et al, 2014; Antar & Gargouri, 2016; Wee et al, 2017a; Wee et al, 2017b; Cutmore et al, 2018; Perez-Ponce de Leon et al, 2018), but only one (Cribb et al, 2014) has included the unnamed species. In describing and naming this species, we hope that the sequences obtained from this rare and difficult to obtain deep-sea digenean will be used by all subsequent workers on fellodistomid phylogeny. The article should be cited by using the doi number.
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