Three new species of Synodontella (Monogenea, Ancyrocephalidae), gill parasites of Synodontis spp. (Siluriformes, Mochokidae) from Côte d’Ivoire

Enoutchy F Bouah,Valentin N’Douba,Antoine Pariselle

doi:10.1051/parasite/2019044

Abstract

Four species of Synodontella, including three new, are reported from three species of Synodontis (S. ocellifer, S. nigrita, and S. velifer) from north-western Côte d’Ivoire. Synodontella melanoptera Dossou & Euzet, 1993 was found on the gills of S. nigrita and S. velifer and was already known from the gills of S. melanopterus in Benin and the gills of S. obesus and S. rebeli in Cameroon. The new species are Synodontella speroadotevii n. sp. from S. nigrita (type-host), S. velifer and S. ocellifer, and Synodontella bagoueensis n. sp. and Synodontella akengboi n. sp., both from S. velifer (type-host for both), S. nigrita and S. ocellifer. The new species differ from the other species of Synodontella mainly in the morphology of their male copulatory organs (MCO): Synodontella speroadotevii has a two-part penis (one being a hollow tube and the other a flattened tube); Synodontella bagoueensis has a wide G-shaped penis with a sub-terminal opening; and Synodontella akengboi has a simple narrow J-shaped penis. Synodontella speroadotevii differs from Synodontella bagoueensis and Synodontella akengboi in the shape of the dorsal transverse bar, which shows no protuberance, and also in the morphology of the MCO. Synodontella bagoueensis differs from the other two species in that it has a dorsal transverse bar that is V-shaped and a G-shaped MCO. Synodontella akengboi differs from the two other species in having a J-shaped MCO and in the size of its ventral and dorsal anchors which, contrary to the other two species, are almost similar.

Highlights

IntroductionIn 1968, Paperna and Thurston [10] described Sy. synodontii (Paperna & Thurston, 1968), the type species, from the gills of S. victoriae Boulenger in Uganda
Monogeneans that infect small catfishes of Mochokidae have been the focus of several studies [2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 13] and, in Africa, only 10 species of Synodontella Dossou & Euzet, 1993 have far been reported from catfishes belonging to Synodontis Cuvier
We found four species of monogeneans belonging to Synodontella

Summary

Introduction

In 1968, Paperna and Thurston [10] described Sy. synodontii (Paperna & Thurston, 1968), the type species, from the gills of S. victoriae Boulenger in Uganda. Raphahlelo et al [13] confirmed the validity of these five species in their revision of the latter and Mbondo et al [7] more recently redescribed Sy. melanoptera from the gills of S. obesus Boulenger and S. rebeli Holly in the Sanaga River (Cameroon). Mbondo et al [7] described two new species: Sy. apertipenis Mbondo, Nack & Pariselle, 2017 and Sy. sanagaensis Mbondo, Nack & Pariselle, 2017 from the gills of S. rebeli. Mbondo et al [6] in 2019 reported Sy. angustupenis Mbondo, Nack & Pariselle, 2019 from the gills of S. nummifer Boulenger, and Sy. longipenis, Mbondo, Nack & Pariselle, 2019, and Sy. simplex Mbondo Nack & Pariselle, 2019 from the gills of S. decorus Boulenger from the Boumba River (Cameroon)

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Conclusion