Muscular Arrangement and Sclerite Morphology in the Haptor of Tetraonchus monenteron (Monogenea, Dactylogyridea).

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND : Tetraonchidae is a small and relatively monomorphic family of dactylogyroid monogeneans. Since the morphology of sclerites of the attachment organ (haptor) is one of the primary criteria in tetraonchid taxonomy, the confocal study of sclerites and associated musculature may provide valuable taxonomic information. PURPOSE : The aim of this study was to examine the haptoral sclerites and musculature in Tetraonchus monenteron (Wagener, 1857), a common parasite of pike.

Musculoskeletal and nervous systems of the attachment organ in three species of Diplectanum (Monogenea: Dactylogyroidea).

The taxonomy of Diplectanum Diesing, 1858, a genus of monopisthocotylean monogeneans, remains unsettled and needs to be revised based on new morphological criteria. Recent studies in monopisthocotyleans have shown that the muscle arrangement in the posterior attachment organ (haptor) differs between congeneric species and can be used as an additional criterion in genus-level taxonomy. To explore the possibility of using the haptoral musculature and nervous system in the taxonomy of Diplectanum, we conducted a detailed confocal-microscopy study of three species of Diplectanum (D.

Haptoral neuromusculature in two species of Dactylogyrus Diesing, 1850 (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae).

The taxonomy of Dactylogyrus Diesing, 1850 (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae), like that of most monopisthocotyleans, relies heavily on the morphology of sclerites of the posterior attachment organ (haptor). However, the associated neuromusculature is essentially unknown and, therefore, the aim of this study was to use confocal microscopy to examine the haptoral neuromusculature in two species of Dactylogyrus: D. amphibothrium Wagener, 1857 and D.

A new species of Entobdella Blainville in Lamarck, 1818 (Monogenea: Capsalidae: Entobdellinae) from the Greenland halibut, Reinhardtius hippoglossoides.

A previously undescribed species of Entobdella is reported from the skin of the Greenland halibut, Reinhardtius hippoglossoides (Pleuronectiformes, Pleuronectidae). Entobdella whittingtoni sp. nov.

The first record of Gyrodactylus corleonis Paladini, Cable, Fioravanti, Faria & Shinn, 2010 (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae) from the wild.

Specimens of Gyrodactylus corleonis Paladini, Cable, Fioravanti, Faria & Shinn, 2010 (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae) were collected from the body and fins of Gobius cobitis Pallas in the western Mediterranean Sea off northwestern Sardinia. This is the first finding of this species in the wild and also represents a new host record. A morphological comparison of the new material with the type description of G.

Ligophorus abditus n. sp. (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) and other species of Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977 infecting the flathead grey mullet Mugil cephalus L. in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea.

As a result of the re-examination of museum slides and new material of monogeneans collected from Mugil cephalus L. in the Sea of Japan, the estuary of a river which flows into the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea (off Zhifu, at the boundary of the Bohai Sea) and the East China Sea (off the Ryukyu Islands), five species of Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977 were identified, one of which is new. The known species are L.

Descriptions of eight new species of Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977 (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) from Red Sea mullets.

Eight new species of Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977 (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) are described from two species of mullets from the Red Sea. Ligophorus bykhowskyi n. sp.

Redescriptions of Ligophorus cephali Rubtsova, Balbuena, Sarabeev, Blasco-Costa & Euzet, 2006 and L. chabaudi Euzet & Suriano, 1977 (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae), with notes on the functional morphology of the copulatory organ.

Redescriptions of Ligophorus cephali Rubtsova, Balbuena, Sarabeev, Blasco-Costa & Euzet, 2006 and L. chabaudi Euzet & Suriano, 1977 based on original material from the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Japan are presented. A comparison of samples of these two species from different regions was carried out with the aid of principal components analysis.

Redescription of Ligophorus mediterraneus Sarabeev, Balbuena & Euzet, 2005 (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) with some methodological notes.

A redescription of Ligophorus mediterraneus Sarabeev, Balbuena & Euzet, 2005, based on original material from the Black and Mediterranean Seas, is presented and new diagnostic characters for its recognition are proposed. The unlikely wide range of variation in the angle between the shaft and point of the anchors, reported for this species and for some others in the genus, is analysed, and the structure of the ventral bar in Ligophorus spp. is described and its taxonomic significance discussed.

Ligophorus llewellyni n. sp. (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) from the redlip mullet Liza haematocheilus (Temminck & Schlegel) introduced into the Black Sea from the Far East.

Ligophorus llewellyni n. sp. (Ancyrocephalidae: Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977) is described from the gills of Liza haematocheilus (Temminck & Schlegel) introduced into the Black Sea from the Far East.