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New tissue-dwelling species of Philometra Costa, 1845 and Philometroides Yamaguti, 1935 (Nematoda: Philometridae) from marine perciform fishes off the northern coast of Australia

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Abstract

Based on light and scanning electron microscopical studies, three new species of philometrids (Nematoda: Philometridae) are described from females collected in marine perciform fishes off the northern coast of Australia: Philometra gracilis n. sp. and Philometroides branchiarum n. sp. from tissues behind the gills and gill arches, respectively, of the John’s snapper Lutjanus johnii (Bloch) (Lutjanidae), and Philometroides stomachicus n. sp. from the stomach wall of the blackspotted croaker Protonibea diacanthus (Lacépède) (Sciaenidae). Philometra gracilis differs from other congeners described from the Lutjanidae mainly in the presence of large caudal projections, short gravid females (28–42 mm long), the oesophageal gland extending anteriorly far anterior to the level of the nerve-ring, the site in the host and its geographical distribution. Philometroides branchiarum is mainly characterised by the possession of conspicuous, sclerotised oesophageal teeth and very short gravid females (6–8 mm long), whereas P. stomachicus can be differentiated by the body length of gravid females (85–90 mm), the length of the oesophagus (2.67 mm) representing 3% of the body length, the maximum width/body length ratio of gravid females (1:28–32), cuticular bosses densely distributed throughout the body but absent from the oesophageal region, the absence of oesophageal teeth and caudal projections, and the site in the host. The presence of P. gracilis and P. branchiarum in L. johnii and that of P. stomachicus in P. diacanthus confirm the possibility of the coexistence of more philometrid species in different sites within sympatric specimens of one and the same definitive host.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries, the Western Australian Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Long Term Monitoring Project, as well as various recreational and commercial fishers, for help with the collection of host specimens. Thanks are also due to the staff of the Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Institute of Parasitology, BC CAS, in České Budějovice for their technical assistance, and to Blanka Škoríková of the same Institute for help with the illustrations. The authors also thank anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions, and to David Gibson, Natural History Museum, London, for the linguistic revision of the MS.

Funding

This study was partly supported by the Australian Fisheries Research & Development Corporation (Project Number 2013/017), the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries, the Institute of Parasitology (with institutional support RVO 60077344) and the Czech Science Foundation (Project No. P505/12/G112).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    František Moravec

  2. Fisheries Research, Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries, Berrimah Farm, Darwin, Northern Territory, 0801, Australia

    Diane P. Barton

  3. Aquatic Ecology & Management, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, 0801, Australia

    Diane P. Barton

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  1. František Moravec
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Correspondence to František Moravec.

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All applicable institutional (the animal ethics approval from Charles Darwin University, No. A13014), national and international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Moravec, F., Barton, D.P. New tissue-dwelling species of Philometra Costa, 1845 and Philometroides Yamaguti, 1935 (Nematoda: Philometridae) from marine perciform fishes off the northern coast of Australia. Syst Parasitol 93, 623–637 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-016-9657-5

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