Taxonomic Status of Neoechinorhynchus Agilis (Acanthocephala, Neoechinorhynchidae), with a Description of two New Species of the Genus from the Atlantic and Pacific Mullets (Teleostei, Mugilidae)

Abstract

Abstract The wide variability in morphological features, geographical and host ranges of mullet acanthocephalan parasite Neoechinorhynchus agilis (Rudolphi, 1819), raises the question of taxonomic status of this species. Rudolphi’s type and Yamaguti`s voucher specimens, as well as our own material from the WW Pacific and NE Atlantic region were used herein to provide comparative morphological analysis. Th e study revealed three different species of Neoechinorhynchus, N. (N.) agilis and N. (H.) personatus Tkach, Sarabeev et Shvetsova, sp. n. in the Atlantic and N. (H.) yamagutii Tkach, Sarabeev et Shvetsova, sp. n. in the Pacific. Strong morphological and morphometric differences were found between three described herein species from different hosts and regions. Th e dividing of N. agilis into three species, two of them are new, provides a basis for the further revision of host-geographical records of mullet acanthocephalan parasites.