Abstract
Two new haploporine genera are established for parasites of mullets. Ragaia n. g. is erected for R. lizae n. sp. from Liza ramado in the Ebro Delta on the Mediterranean Coast of Spain. This new genus is distinguished by the unique combination of the following characters: a strongly muscular ventral sucker which is twice as large as the oral sucker; a large, muscular hermaphroditic sac similar in length to the ventral sucker; a saccular, thick-walled internal seminal vesicle which is larger than the external seminal vesicle; and the ovary and vitellarium located rather close to the posterior extremity. Pseudodicrogaster n. g. is erected to accommodate Dicrogaster japonica Machida, 1996, as P. japonica (Machida, 1996) n. comb., a parasite of Mugil cephalus L. off Fukaura, Japan. This genus is recognised on the basis of: the tubular condition of both the internal and external seminal vesicles, the latter being much shorter than the former; the sucker ratio; the massive pyriform hermaphroditic sac; the location of the testis; and the presence of two eye-spots in developed miracidia. A key to the nine recognised genera of the Haploporinae is presented.
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Notes
The paratype specimens upon which this description was based were accidentally destroyed after acceptance of the manuscript while being prepared for deposition. Attempts will be made to collect vouchers.
References
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Professor Robin Overstreet, who kindly read a draft of the manuscript, and Dr T. Kuramochi, who made available specimens from the National Science Museum, Tokyo. Thanks are due to three referees for their comments and suggestions. The study was funded by INTAS grant 03-51-5998 and partly supported by grant FP6-MTKD-CT-2004-003175. The first author benefits from a doctoral fellowship from the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain (AP-2004-2999) and a visiting fellowship to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. F.E. Montero benefits from a Juan de la Cierva contract from the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain.
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Blasco-Costa, I., Montero, F.E., Gibson, D.I. et al. A revision of the Haploporinae Nicoll, 1914 (Digenea: Haploporidae) from mullets (Mugilidae): two new haploporine genera and a key to the genera of the subfamily. Syst Parasitol 72, 207–215 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-008-9164-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-008-9164-4