Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Redescription of Philometra margolisi Moravec, Vidal-Martínez et Aguirre-Macedo, 1995 (Nematoda: Philometridae), a gonad-infecting parasite of the red grouper Epinephelus morio (Serranidae) in the Gulf of Mexico

  • Published:
Acta Parasitologica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The insufficiently known nematode species Philometra margolisi Moravec, Vidal-Martínez et Aguirre-Macedo, 1995 (Philometridae) is redescribed based on light and scanning electron microscopical (SEM) examinations of specimens collected from the gonad of the type host, the red grouper Epinephelus morio (Valenciennes) (Serranidae, Perciformes), in the northern Gulf of Mexico off Florida, USA. Also, new prevalence data for females of P. margolisi were derived from 188 fish, and a subset of these (n = 38) were used to determine prevalence and intensity of male nematodes. The male of this species was studied with SEM for the first time, which revealed some new, taxonomically important morphological features. The male posterior end had a V-shaped caudal mound, four pairs of minute adanal papillae, a pair of large papillae located posterior to the cloacal aperture and a pair of very small phasmids. The distal end of the gubernaculum is unique among all gonad-infecting species of Philometra parasitizing serranids in that its ventral surface is flat, smooth, without the usual two longitudinal grooves; the dorsal lamellate structures on the gubernaculum are also different in this species. In contrast to data in the original species description, the body length of gravid females of P. margolisi was 132–280 mm. Overall prevalence for male nematodes (76.3%) was much higher than for females (15.4%), and female nematode prevalence was higher in samples collected during host spawing season than out of season (27.1% and 3.3%, respectively).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bashirullah A. K. M., Adams J. R. 1983. Philonema oncorhynchi: effect of hormones on maturation in anadromous sockey, On-corhynchus nerka. International Journal of Parasitology, 13, 261–265

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brulé T., Déniel C., Colás-Marrufo T., Sánchez-Crespo M. 1999. Red grouper reproduction in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 128, 385–402. DOI: 10.1577/1548-8659(1999)128<0385:RGRITS>2.0CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock L.H., Smith G.B. 1991. Seabasse (Pisces: Serranidae). Memoirs of the Hourglass Cruises, 8, 1–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke L.M., Dove A.D.M., Conover D.O. 2006. Prevalence, intensity, and effect of a nematode (Philometra saltatrix) in the ovaries of bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix). Fisheries Bulletin, 104, 118–124. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1645/12-39.1

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman F.C., Koenig C.C., Scanlon K.M., Heppell S., Heppell S., Miller M.W. 2010. Benthic habitat modification through excavation by red grouper, Epinephelus morio, in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. The Open Fish Science Journal, 3, 1–15. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1874401X01003010001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins L.A., Fitzhugh G.R., Lombardi-Carlson L.A., Lyon H.M., Walling W.T., Oliver D.W. 2002. Characterization of red grouper (Serranidae: Epinephelus morio) reproduction from the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Contribution Series 2002–07 National Marine Fisheries Service, Panama City, Florida, pp. 21

    Google Scholar 

  • Froese R., Pauly D. (Eds) 2016. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.fishbase.org, version 10/2016

    Google Scholar 

  • Giménez-Hurtado E., Coyula-Pérez-Puelles R., Lluch-Cota S.E., Ganzález-Yañez A.A., Moreno-García V., Burgos-de-la-Rosa R. 2005. Historical biomass, fishing mortality, and recruitment trends of the Campeche Bank red grouper (Epinephelus morio). Fisheries Research, 71, 267–277. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2004.09.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heemstra P.C. 2002. Groupers (seabasses, creolefish, coney,hinds, hamlets, anthiines, and soapfishes). In: Camperter K.E. (Ed.), The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae) FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome: FAO, 1308–1369

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowerre-Barbieri S., Crabtree L., Switzer T.S., McMichael R.H. Jr. 2014. Maturity, sexual transition, and spawning seasonality in the protogynous red grouper on the West Florida Shelf. SEDAR42-DW-7. SEDAR, North Charleston, South Carolina, pp. 21

    Google Scholar 

  • Moe M.A. 1969. Biology of the red grouper Epinephelus morio (Valenciennes) from the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Professional Papers Series, Florida Department of Natural Resources Marine Research Laboratory 10, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, pp. 1–5

    Google Scholar 

  • Molnár K. 1966. Life-history of Philometra ovata (Zeder, 1803) and Ph. rischta Skrjabin, 1917. Acta Veterinaria Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 16, 227–242

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F. 1977. The life history of the nematode Philometra abdominalis in the Rokytka Brook, Czechoslovakia. Acta Soci-etatis Zoologicae Bohemoslovacae, 41, 114–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F. 2006. Dracunculoid and anguillicoloid nematodes parasitic in vertebrates. Prague: Academia, pp. 634

    Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Bakenhaster M.D. 2013. Two new gonad-infecting philometrids (Nematoda: Philometridae) from the yellowedge grouper Hyporthodus flavolimbatus (Serranidae) and the great northern tilefish Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps (Malacanthidae) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Systematic Parasitology, 86, 113–123. DOI: 10.1007/s11230-013-9438-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Bakenhaster M.D., Adams D.H. 2016b. Two new species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Nematoda: Philometridae) from Mycteroperca spp. (Serranidae) in the western Atlantic and northern Gulf of Mexico, USA. Systematic Parasitology, 93, 479–491. DOI: 10.1007/s11230-016-9642-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Chaabane A., Justine J.-L., Neifar L. 2016a. Two-gonad infecting species of Philometra (Nematoda: Philometridae) from groupers (Serranidae) off Tunisia, with a key to Philome-tra species infecting serranid gonads. Parasite, 23, 8. DOI: 10.1051/parasite/2016008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Chaabane A., Neifar L., Gey D., Justine J.-L. 2016c. Descriptions of Philometra aenei n. sp. and P. tunisiensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Philometridae) from Epinephelus spp. off Tunisia confirm a high degree of host specificity of gonad-infecting species of Philometra Costa, 1845 in groupers (Serranidae). Systematic Parasitology, 93, 115–128. DOI: 10.1007/s11230-015-9610-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., de Buron I. 2013. A synthesis of our current knowledge of philometrid nematodes, a group of increasingly important fish parasites. Folia Parasitologica, 60, 81–101. DOI: 10.14411/fp.2013.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Justine J.-L. 2008. Some philometrid nematodes (Philometridae), including four new species of Philometra, from marine fishes off New Caledonia. Acta Parasitologica, 53, 369–381. DOI: 10.2478/s11686-008-0050-7

    Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Justine J.-L. 2014. Philometrids (Nematoda: Philometri-dae) in carangid and serranid fishes off New Caledonia, including three new species. Parasite, 21, 21. DOI: 10.1051/parasite/2014022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Justine J.-L. 2015. New records of species of Philometra (Nematoda: Philometridae) from marine fishes off New Caledonia, including P. cephalopholidis sp. n. from Cephalopholis sonnerati (Serranidae). Parasitology Research, 114, 3223–3228. DOI: 10.1007/s00436-015-4538-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Manoharan J. 2014. Gonad-infecting species of Philometra (Nematoda: Philometridae) from groupers Epinephelus spp. (Osteichthyes: Serranidae) in the Bay of Bengal, India. Acta Para-sitologica, 59, 596–605. DOI: 10.2478/s11686-014-0285-4

    Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Salgado-Maldonado G. 2007. A new species of Philome-tra (Nematoda, Philometridae) from the gonads of the rock hind Epinephelus adscensionis (Osteichthyes) from the southern Gulf of Mexico. Acta Parasitologica, 52, 376–381. DOI: 10.2478/s11686-007-0044-x

    Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Vidal-Martínez V.M., Aguirre-Macedo L. 1995. Philome-tra margolisi n. sp. (Nematoda: Philometridae) from the gonads of the red grouper, Epinephelus morio (Pisces: Serranidae), in Mexico. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 52 (Suppl. 1), 161–165. DOI: 10.1139/f95-522

    Google Scholar 

  • Moravec F., Vidal-Martínez V.M., Vargas-Vázquez J., Vivas-Ro-dríguez C., González-Solís D., Mendoza-Franco E., Simá-Alvárez R., Güemez-Ricalde J. 1997. Helminth parasites of Epinephelus morio (Pisces: Serranidae) of the Yucatan Peninsula, southeastern Mexico. Folia Parasitologica, 44, 255–266

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paperna I., Zwerner D. E. 1976. Parasites and diseases of striped bass, Morone saxatilis (Walbaum), from the lower Chesapeake Bay. Journal of Fish Biology, 9, 267–287. DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1976.tb04678.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perez G.R., Roumillat W.A., Levesque E.M., Connors V.A., de Buron I. 2008. Synchronization of occurrence of the ovarian philometrid, Philometra carolinensis, with the spawning season of its fish host, the spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus. Parasitology Research, 104, 1079–1085. DOI: 10.1007/s00436-008-1291-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Platzer E. G., Adams J. R. 1967. The life history of a dracunculoid, Philonema oncorhynchi, in Oncorhynchus nerka. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 45, 31–43. DOI: 10.1139/z67-004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quiazon K.M.A., Yoshinaga T., Ogawa K. 2008a. Taxonomic study into two new species of Philometra (Nematoda: Philometridae) previously identified as Philometra lateolabracis (Yamaguti, 1935). Folia Parasitologica, 55, 29–41. DOI: 10.14411/fp.2008.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quiazon K.M.A., Yoshinaga T., Ogawa K. 2008b. Philometra sawara sp. n. and a redescription of Philometra sciaenae Yamaguti, 1941 and Philometra nemipteri Luo, 2001 (Nematoda: Philometridae): a morphological and molecular approach. Folia Parasitologica, 55, 277–290. DOI: 10.14411/fp.2008.036

    Google Scholar 

  • Schirripa M.J., Legault C.M., Ortiz M. 1999. The red grouper fishery of the Gulf of Mexico: Assessment 3.0. Sustainable Fisheries Division Contribution No. SFD-98/99-56

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith C.L. 1971. A revision of the American groupers: Epinephelus and allied genera. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 146, 67–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhazy L. S. 1977. Biology of Philometroides huronensis (Nematoda: Dracunculoidea) in the white sucker (Catostomus commer-soni). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 55, 1430–1441. DOI: 10.1139/z77-186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vidal-Martínez V.M., Aguirre-Macedo M.L., Vivas-Rodríguez C.M., Moravec F. 1998. Las comunidades de macroparasitos del mero Epinephelus morio (Pisces: Serranidae) en la Peninsula de Yucatan, Mexico. Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, 50, 764–779

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang S.-X., Li L., Zhang L.-P. 2015. Redescription and genetic characterization of Philometra lagocephali Moravec et Justine 2008 (Nematoda: Philometridae) from Lagocephalus lunaris (Bloch and Schneider) (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) in the South China Sea. Acta Parasitologica, 60, 395–406. DOI: 10.1515/ap-2015-0055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams C. F., Moravec F., Thurnbull J. F., Ferguson H. W. 2012. Seasonal development and pathological changes associated with the parasitic nematode Philometroides sanguineus in wild crucian carp Carassius carassius (L.) in England. Journal of Helminthology, 86, 329–338. DOI:https://doi.org/10. 1017/S0022149X11000356

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

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. Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 100 Eighth Avenue Southeast, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33701, USA

    Micah D. Bakenhaster

  3. Center for Biostatistics and Modeling, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 1105 Southwest Williston Rd., Gainesville, Florida, 32601, USA

    Erin H. Leone

Authors
  1. František Moravec
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Micah D. Bakenhaster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Erin H. Leone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to František Moravec.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Moravec, F., Bakenhaster, M.D. & Leone, E.H. Redescription of Philometra margolisi Moravec, Vidal-Martínez et Aguirre-Macedo, 1995 (Nematoda: Philometridae), a gonad-infecting parasite of the red grouper Epinephelus morio (Serranidae) in the Gulf of Mexico. Acta Parasit. 62, 412–421 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1515/ap-2017-0049

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ap-2017-0049

Keywords

Search

Navigation