Heterocheilus floridensis sp. n. (Nematoda: Heterocheilidae) from the West Indian manatee Trichechus manatus (Trichechidae, Sirenia) in Florida, USA.

Morphological data are used to describe a new nematode species, Heterocheilus floridensis sp. n. (Heterocheilidae) from the digestive tract of the Florida manatee Trichechus manatus latirostris (Harlan) (Trichechidae, Sirenia) from Florida, USA.

Cutaneous ulcerative lesions of unknown etiology affecting lionfish Pterois spp. in the Gulf of Mexico.

Objective: Cutaneous ulcerative skin lesions in a complex of invasive Gulf of Mexico lionfish (Red Lionfish Pterois volitans, Devil Firefish P. miles, and the hybrid Red Lionfish × Devil Firefish) became epizootic beginning in mid-August 2017. Herein, we provide the first pathological descriptions of these lesions and summarize our analyses to elucidate the etiology of the disease.

Axinids (Monogenoidea: Mazocraeidea: Microcotylinea) infecting the gill lamellae of some beloniform fishes in the Gulf of Mexico, with descriptions of Axine buccina n. sp. from Hyporhamphus unifasciatus (Ranzani) and Nudaciraxine timucua n. sp. from Strongylura timucu (Walbaum).

Five species of Axinidae (Monogenoidea: Mazocraeidae) were recovered from the gill lamellae of four of six species of needlefishes and halfbeaks examined from the Gulf of Mexico off Florida: Axine buccina n. sp. from a common halfbeak Hyporhamphus unifasciatus (Ranzani); Nudaciraxine gracilis (Linton, 1940) Price, 1962 (minimum prevalence 60%) from the Atlantic needlefish Strongylura marina (Walbaum); Nudaciraxine timucua n.

Euryhaliotrema dolichodrilus n. sp. and Euryhaliotrema mimulus n. sp. (Monogenoidea: Dactylogyridae) infecting the gill lamellae of porgies, Calamus spp. (Perciformes: Sparidae) from the Gulf of Mexico off Florida, U.S.A.

Two new species of Euryhaliotrema Kritsky & Boeger, 2002 (Monogenoidea: Dactylogyridae) were described from the gill lamellae of porgies, Calamus spp. (Perciformes, Sparidae), collected from the Gulf of Mexico off Florida: Euryhaliotrema dolichodrilus n. sp.

Morphological and genetic description of two new species of philometrid nematodes (Philometridae) parasitic in needlefishes (Belonidae) from estuaries of Florida, USA.

Two new species of philometrid nematodes (Philometridae) from needlefishes (Belonidae) in Florida are described based on morphological and genetic characteristics: Philometra aequispiculata sp. n. (males and females) collected from the ovary of Strongylura marina (Walbaum) (type host) and Strongylura notata (Poey), and Philometra notatae sp.

Redescription of the Type Species of Cardicola Short, 1953 (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) and Description of a New Congener Infecting Yellowedge Grouper, Hyporthodus flavolimbatus (Perciformes: Serranidae), from the Gulf of Mexico.

Cardicola Short, 1953 is the most speciose aporocotylid genus (35 species) and includes marine and estuarine species of fish blood flukes that infect "higher ray-finned fishes" (Euteleostei). Several clades within Cardicola are recovered in phylogenetic analyses of the large subunit ribosomal DNA (28S), but morphological synapomorphies for those nucleotide-based clades remain elusive. The type species, Cardicola cardiocola (Manter, 1947) Short, 1953, has not been recollected in 73 yr and the original description was incomplete; making a genus revision challenging because of the ambiguous systematic position of its type species.

New records of Philometra spp. (Nematoda: Philometridae) from marine perciform fishes off Florida, USA, including descriptions of two new species.

Recent examinations of marine perciform fishes from off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Florida, USA, revealed the presence of the following six species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Nematoda: Philometridae): P. haemulontis sp. n.

A new genus and species of fish blood fluke, Achorovermis testisinuosus gen. et sp. n. (Digenea: Aporocotylidae), infecting critically endangered smalltooth sawfish, Pristis pectinata (Rhinopristiformes: Pristidae) in the Gulf of Mexico.

Achorovermis testisinuosus gen. et sp. n.

Putative histiocytic sarcoma in redfin needlefish Strongylura notata (Beloniformes: Belonidae) in Florida, USA.

Redfin needlefish Strongylura notata from Florida coastal waters were observed with unusual neoplastic lesions. Affected specimens were collected from 1 Atlantic estuary (Indian River Lagoon, prevalence = 0.32%, n = 5314) and 2 Gulf of Mexico estuaries (Tampa Bay, prevalence = 0.

Resurrection of Mycteronastes (Monogenoidea: Monocotylidae), with Description of Mycteronastes caalusi n. sp. from Olfactory Sacs of the Smalltooth Sawfish, Pristis pectinata (Pristiformes: Pristidae), in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida.

Mycteronastes Kearn and Beverley-Burton, 1990 (Monogenoidea: Monocotylidae: Merizocotylinae) was resurrected from subjective synonymy with Merizocotyle Cerfontaine, 1894 , and its diagnosis was emended to include monocotylids with a haptor lacking a central loculus and having 5 peripheral (2 bilateral pairs and an unpaired anteromedial loculus), 1 interhamular, and 17 marginal loculi. The 3 species of Mycteronastes accepted herein are parasitic within the olfactory sacs of rays and sawfishes: Mycteronastes icopae ( Beverley-Burton and Williams, 1989 ) Kearn and Beverley-Burton, 1990 (type species) from the giant shovelnose ray, Glaucostegus typus (Anonymous (Bennett)) (Glaucostegidae), in the southwestern Pacific Ocean; Mycteronastes undulatae Kearn and Beverley-Burton, 1990 from the undulate ray, Raja undulata Lacepède (Rajidae), in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean; and Mycteronastes caalusi n. sp.

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.

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.

Two new species of Elopicola (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) from Hawaiian ladyfish, Elops hawaiensis (Eastern Sea) and Atlantic tarpon, Megalops atlanticus (Gulf of Mexico) with a comment on monophyly of elopomorph blood flukes.

Elopicola bristowi sp. n. infects the blood vascular system of Hawaiian ladyfish, Elops hawaiensis, in the Eastern Sea.

Pseudorhabdosynochus sulamericanus (Monogenea, Diplectanidae), a parasite of deep-sea groupers (Serranidae) occurs transatlantically on three congeneric hosts (Hyporthodus spp.), one from the Mediterranean Sea and two from the western Atlantic.

Little is known of the diversity of the monogenean parasites infesting deep-sea groupers, and there is even less information available about their geographic distributions within the ranges of their hosts. To improve our understanding of these host-parasite relationships we conducted parasitological evaluations of the deep-water Haifa grouper Hyporthodus haifensis from the southern Mediterranean off Tunisia and Libya. We collected more than one species of diplectanid monogeneans from this host, but among these only one dominant species was abundant.

Two new species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Nematoda: Philometridae) from Mycteroperca spp. (Serranidae) in the North-West Atlantic and northern Gulf of Mexico, USA.

Based on light and scanning electron microscopical studies, two new species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Nematoda: Philometridae) are described from two species of Mycteroperca Gill (Serranidae), marine perciform fishes, in coastal waters off Florida, USA: Philometra deburonae n. sp. from the inner side of operculum of the yellowfin grouper Mycteroperca venenosa (L.

Pseudorhabdosynochus species (Monogenoidea, Diplectanidae) parasitizing groupers (Serranidae, Epinephelinae, Epinephelini) in the western Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters, with descriptions of 13 new species.

Seventeen of twenty-three species of groupers collected from the western Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters were infected with 19 identified species (13 new) of Pseudorhabdosynochus Yamaguti, 1958 (Dactylogyridea, Diplectanidae); specimens of the Spanish flag Gonioplectrus hispanus, coney Cephalopholis fulva, marbled grouper Dermatolepis inermis, mutton hamlet Alphestes afer, and misty grouper Hyporthodus mystacinus were not infected; the yellowmouth grouper Mycteroperca interstitialis and yellowfin grouper Mycteroperca venenosa were infected with unidentified species of Pseudorhabdosynochus; the Atlantic creolefish Paranthias furcifer was infected with an unidentified species of Diplectanidae that could not be accommodated in Pseudorhabdosynochus. The following species of Pseudorhabdosynochus are described or redescribed based entirely or in part on new collections: Pseudorhabdosynochus americanus (Price, 1937) Kritsky & Beverley-Burton, 1986 from Atlantic goliath grouper Epinephelus itajara; Pseudorhabdosynochus yucatanensis Vidal-Martínez, Aguirre-Macedo & Mendoza-Franco, 1997 and Pseudorhabdosynochus justinella n. sp.

Philometra floridensis (Nematoda: Philometridae) damages ovarian tissue without reducing host (Sciaenops ocellatus) fecundity.

The parasitic nematode Philometra floridensis infects the ovary of its only host, the economically important fish species Sciaenops ocellatus, but the factors influencing host susceptibility and potential pathogenic effects are unknown. Here we report new information on these topics from evaluations of infected and uninfected hosts collected from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Fish length and age were evaluated vis-à-vis nematode prevalence to check for ontogenetic differences in host susceptibility.

First report of gastrocotylinean post-oncomiracidia (Platyhelminthes: Monogenoidea: Heteronchoinea) on gills of flyingfish (Exocoetidae), snapper (Lutjanidae), dolphinfish (Coryphaenidae), and amberjack (Carangidae) from the Gulf of Mexico: decoy hosts and the dilution effect.

Larvae, identified as post-oncomiracidia of the suborder Gastrocotylinea (Monogenoidea), were collected from formalin-fixed gills excised from six species of marine fishes captured from the Gulf of Mexico off Mississippi and Florida: common dolphinfish, Coryphaena hippurus and pompano dolphinfish, Coryphaena equiselis (both Perciformes, Coryphaenidae); gray snapper, Lutjanus griseus (Perciformes, Lutjanidae); greater amberjack, Seriola dumerili (Perciformes, Carangidae); and Atlantic flyingfish, Cheilopogon melanurus and sailfin flyingfish, Parexocoetus hillianus (both Beloniformes and Exocoetidae). Based on a combination of diagnostic morphological features, the specimens were divided into two basic forms, each of which was further subdivided into two morphotypes. No gastrocotylinean post-oncomiracidium had been reported previously from these hosts.

Monogenoidean parasites of the gill lamellae of the sheepshead Archosargus probatocephalus (Walbaum) (Perciformes: Sparidae) from the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, with descriptions of four new species of Euryhaliotrema Kritsky & Boeger, 2002 (Dactylogyridae).

Examination of the gill lamellae of three sheepshead Archosargus probatocephalus (Walbaum) from the Indian River Lagoon in Florida revealed six species of Monogenoidea: Microcotyle archosargi MacCallum, 1913 (Microcotylidae); Neobenedenia sp. (Capsalidae); and four new species of Euryhaliotrema Kritsky & Boeger, 2002 (Dactylogyridae). The prevalence of all helminths was 100%, except for Neobenedenia sp.

Rhabdosynochus Spp. (Monogenoidea: Diplectanidae) infecting the gill lamellae of snooks, Centropomus spp. (Perciformes: Centropomidae), in Florida, and redescription of the type species, R. rhabdosynochus.

Examination of the gill lamellae of 3 species of Centropomus spp. (Centropomidae) from 9 localities around the southern coast of Florida revealed 3 species of Rhabdosynochus (Monogenoidea, Diplectanidae). The common snook, Centropomus undecimalis, was infected with Rhabdosynochus rhabdosynochus (30 of 37 infected; prevalence 81%), Rhabdosynochus hargisi (9 of 37; 24%), and Rhabdosynochus hudsoni (20 of 37; 46%); the fat snook, Centropomus parallelus, with R.