Abstract
The only known monocotylid genus to parasitise Neotropical freshwater stingrays (Potamotrygonidae) is Potamotrygonocotyle Mayes, Brooks & Thorson, 1981, a monotypic genus erected to accommodate P. tsalickisi Mayes, Brooks & Thorson, 1981. For more than 20 years, no other species has been recognised in this genus, but new efforts to survey the diversity of parasites inhabiting potamotrygonids have revealed the existence of new species and the need to redefine the genus. Here, the generic diagnosis of Potamotrygonocotyle is amended, P. tsalickisi is redescribed and four new species are recognised and described based on samples collected from the gills of freshwater potamotrygonids from the La Plata river basin: Potamotrygonocotyle chisholmae n. sp. and P. dromedarius n. sp. from Potamotrygon motoro; Potamotrygonocotyle eurypotamoxenus n. sp. from Potamotrygon cf. motoro (type-host), P. castexi, P. falkneri and P. histrix; and Potamotrygonocotyle uruguayensis n. sp. from Potamotrygon brachyura. Potamotrygonocotyle is characterised by species possessing: (1) slightly sinuous sclerotised ridges on all septa; (2) two pairs of the dorsal haptoral accessory structures associated with the four posterior peripheral loculi and with anterior dorsal haptoral accessory structure bilobate or semicircular; and (3) male copulatory organ without an accessory piece.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank: K.H. Fehlauer, N. Luchetti and T. Possato for assistance during the collecting trip to Pantanal and Uruguay; D. AIchino, J.C. Cerrutti, D. Mendez and I. Rodriguez from the Universidad Nacional de Misiones for collecting and sending material from Argentina; N.C.M. Pancera for laboratory assistance; and K.H. Fehlauer (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil) and F. Reyda (University of Connecticut, USA) for reviewing early versions of the manuscript. We thank the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP) and Instituto de Biociências (USP) for SEM support; E. Hoberg and P. Pilitt (USNPC), S. Gardner and F.A. Jiménez-Ruiz (HWML) for permitting access to the specimens in their care. This work was supported by a research grant from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo-FAPESP (FAPESP 03/01816–2) to FPLM and by the post doctorate fellowship to MVD (FAPESP 04/09267–0).
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Postdoctoral fellow, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa ao Estado de São Paulo (Proc. FAPESP no. 04/09267-0).
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Domingues, M.V., Marques, F.P.L. Revision of Potamotrygonocotyle Mayes, Brooks & Thorson, 1981 (Platyhelminthes: Monogenoidea: Monocotylidae), with descriptions of four new species from the gills of the freshwater stingrays Potamotrygon spp. (Rajiformes: Potamotrygonidae) from the La Plata river basin. Syst Parasitol 67, 157–174 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-006-9086-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-006-9086-y