Alloglossidium demshini sp. nov. (Digenea: Macroderoididae) from leeches in Minnesota

Alloglossidium demshini sp. nov. is described based on specimens from leeches Haemopis grandis collected in northwestern Minnesota. The new species is morphologically closest to Alloglossidium schmidti. The two species can be readily differentiated based on several morphological characters. The cirrus sac in A. schmidti is almost entirely situated anterior to the ventral sucker while in A. demshini sp. nov. it is situated dorsal to the ventral sucker and its proximal end almost reaches the posterior end of ventral sucker or extends posterior to it. The new species has a prepharynx that is substantially longer than the esophagus while in A. schmidti the situation is the opposite. The two species also differ in the position of the ovary and the position of the testes and vitelline fields in relation to the ends of the ceca. Hirudineatrema oschmarini described from leeches in Eastern Palaearctic and Alloglossidium richardsoni described in North America demonstrate great morphological similarity. Nevertheless, Hirudineatrema cannot be synonymized with Alloglossidium at this point because of several peculiar morphological features of H. oschmarini such as a V-shaped excretory bladder and the apparent presence of a true seminal receptacle in the latter species. These features need to be re-evaluated before any taxonomic decision can be made.     

Gymnophallus rebecqui n. sp. (syn. Parvatrema sp. 1, J. Rebecq, 1964) (Digenea: Gymnophallidae), an intestinal parasite of ducks from Camargue (France)

Gymnophallus rebecqui n. sp. replace Parvatrema sp. 1 J. Rebecq, 1964. Metacercariae are described. They occur free in the extrapallial space of Cerastoderma glaucum and Abra ovata, at the central part of the valves. Pallial epithelium hypertrophy is induced by metacercariae and damages are produced at the inner face of the shell of Abra ovata. Adults have been reared in laboratory hosts (Aythya ferina, A. fuligula, Anas platyrhynchos, Tadorna tadorna and Larus argentatus michaellis). Natural adults have been discovered in the anterior and median gut of Aythya ferina, A. fuligula and Anas clypeata. Adults are described and compared with other related Gymnophallid species. This new species is not a member of Parvatrema but belongs to Gymnophallus genera.     

Criconema simlaensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Criconematidae) from India

Summary A new nematode Criconema simlaensis collected from soil around the roots of Cedrus libani var. deodara is described and illustrated. It is distinctive in having 60–65 body annules, each with 10 longitudinal rows of blunt spines and a long pointed tail.With 10 Figures in the Text     

Boleodorus similis n. sp. (Nematoda: Nothotylenchinae) from India

Summary A new species, B. similis, is described from male and female specimens collected from soil around roots of Plumeria acutifolia Poir from North India. It is distinguished by a short and robust body, a broad lateral field, a more posteriorly located vulva in female and the position of phasmid and the posterior extension of lateral field in male.With 8 Figures in the Text     

Ortholinea concentrica n. sp. (Cnidaria: Myxozoa) from the Patagonian seabass Acanthistius patachonicus (Jenyns, 1840) (Perciformes: Serranidae) off Patagonia,Argentina

Parasitology Research - The Patagonian seabass Acanthistius patachonicus (Jenyns, 1840) (Serranidae) is a marine fish valued for commercial and sport fisheries from Argentina. We report a new...     

Caligus mulli n. sp. (Copepoda: Caligidae) parasitic on two Mullid fishes from the eastern Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic waters

Parasitology Research - A new species of caligid copepod, Caligus mulli n. sp., is described based on specimens collected from surmullet Mullus surmuletus Linnaeus from Atlantic waters off the...     

Philometra spicarae sp. n. (Nematoda: Philometridae) from the abdominal cavity of the marine fish (picarel) Spicara smaris (Centracanthidae) off Sicily, Italy

A new nematode species, Philometra spicarae sp. n. (Philometridae), is described from a gravid female found in the abdominal cavity of spicarel, Spicara smaris (Linnaeus) (Centracanthidae, Perciformes), from the Ionian Sea off Sicily, Italy. The new species differs from most other Philometra spp. parasitic in the abdominal cavity of marine fishes by the oesophagus without an anterior inflation, resembling thus only Philometra cheilopogoni Mordvinova, 1986 and Philometra justinei Moravec, Ternengo and Levron, 2006; these two species can be differentiated from P. spicarae by the relative length of the oesophagus to body length (0.6-0.8% vs. 6%) and some other features. From the gonad-infecting species Philometra filiformis (Stossich, 1896), a parasite of Pagellus erythrinus (Linnaeus), P. spicarae differs mainly in having a conspicuously long (1.4 mm) intestinal ligament. It is the first nominal philometrid species described from the fish of the family Centracanthidae.     

Amphiorchis stacyi n. sp. (Digenea: Spirorchiidae) in the heart of a green turtle from Florida,USA and the literature review of Amphiorchis (Price, 1934)

Parasitology Research - The present paper reports the occurrence of the seventh species in the genus Amphiorchis (Digenea: Spirorchiidae) collected from the heart of a green turtle found in...     

Pseudocryptogonimus pakistanensis n. gen., n. sp. (Trematoda: Cryptogonimidae) from the fish Labeo rohita

Pseudocryptogonimus pakistanensis n.g., n. sp., is described from freshwater fish Labeo rohita from Kalri Lake, Sind, Pakistan. It is characterised by possessing spines at the basal margin of oral sucker; testes, postequatorial, subsymmetrical; vitellaria lateral to ovary in middle of hindbody, confluent in postovarian region and reaching to level of testes; ovary flattened; genital pore antero-lateral to acetabulum; seminal vesicle large and ejaculatory duct long. Subfamily Neochasminae Van Cleave et Mueller, 1932 is being emended.     

Sarcocystis dehongensis n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) from water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in China

Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is the intermediate host for at least four species of Sarcocystis: S. fusiformis, S. buffalonis, S. levinei, and S. sinensis/S. dubeyi. Here, a new species, Sarcocystis dehongensis, is reported in 51 of 756 (6.7%) water buffaloes in China. By light microscopy, the cysts of S. dehongensis were macroscopic, up to 18.5 mm long and 95 μm in diameter; 4.9–11.9 μm villous protrusions extended beyond the sarcocyst wall. Using transmission electron microscopy, the sarcocyst wall had lancet- or leaf-like protrusions in longitudinal section, but the cross section showed that the protrusions appeared as mushroom-like in shape with a core of tightly packed microtubules, similar to “type 24.” BLAST searches revealed that S. dehongensis shared the most similarities with the 18S rDNA sequence of S. hardangeri (92.4%) and mitochondrial cox1 gene sequence of S. ovalis (81.0%), whereas no sequences in GenBank were found to be significantly similar to the ITS-1 region of S. dehongensis. A phylogenetic analysis based on 18S rDNA and mitochondrial cox1 gene sequences suggested that S. dehongensis was closely related to Sarcocystis species from cervids that employ corvids as definitive hosts.