A new genus and species of the trypanorhynch family Otobothriidae Dollfus, 1942 from the slender weasel shark Paragaleus randalli Compagno, Krupp & Carpenter (Hemigaleidae) in the Persian Gulf

Abstract

A survey on the cestode fauna of Paragaleus randalli Compagno, Krupp & Carpenter in the Persian Gulf resulted in the discovery of a new trypanorhynch species of the family Otobothriidae Dollfus, 1942, the second otobothrioid species hosted by the family Hemigaleidae Hasse. The new species exhibits the closest morphological similarity to Pristiorhynchus palmi Schaeffner & Beveridge, 2013, the type- and only species of its genus. However, the new species differs from P. palmi in the position of the bothrial pits, the morphology and oncotaxy of the basal armature, the commencement of the hook files on the internal surface, a wider scolex peduncle in the pars bulbosa than in the pars vaginalis, a long neck and the presence of a lateral bothrial groove connecting the two bothrial pits to each other. The latter character is a unique trait within the Otobothrioidea Dollfus, 1942. Considering such differences, a new genus, Olgaella n. g., was erected to accommodate O. elenae n. g., n. sp. within the Otobothriidae. The evolutionary relatedness of the bothrial pits of the Otobothrioidea and the bothrial grooves of the Lacistorhynchoidea Guiart, 1927 is discussed.

Tentaculariids (Cestoda, Trypanorhyncha) of elasmobranchs from Malaysian Borneo

“…The Coral Triangle is an area of the tropical marine waters with a rich biodiversity (Allen 2007), including elasmobranchs as final hosts for trypanorhynchs, where southern Indonesian waters together with Malaysian Borneo waters are within this recognised zone. Of the 335 valid trypanorhynch species known to date (Haseli & Malekpour Fard 2017; Beveridge et al 2017a; Schaeffner 2018; Beveridge & Schaeffner 2018; Schaeffner & Marques 2018; Shafiei & Haseli 2019; Palm et al 2019, 2020; Beveridge et al 2021; Haseli et al 2021; Oosthuizen et al 2021; Herzog & Jensen 2022; present study), a total of 86 different species (26%) have been recorded until now from Indonesia, and of the 58 tentaculariid species, 21 species (36%) occur in Indonesian waters (Palm 2004; Palm et al 2009, 2019, 2020; Schaeffner et al 2011; Schaeffner & Beveridge 2012a, b, c, 2013a, b, c, 2014; present study). Since most of the trypanorhynch species reported so far off Borneo (see Schaeffner & Beveridge 2014; Palm et al 2020; present study) have also been recorded from Indonesia other than its Bornean part, it seems that the trypanorhynch fauna of Borneo resembles the one from Indonesian waters, since both areas are within the Coral Triangle.…”

A New Genus of Tapeworm (Cestoda: Onchoproteocephalidea) from Sawfish (Elasmobranchii: Pristidae)

“…The past almost 2 decades have seen a remarkable transformation in our global understanding of the tapeworms of sharks and stingrays (i.e., elasmobranchs). In total, 202 genera are now recognized across the 9 orders of cestodes that parasitize elasmobranchs (Caira and Jensen, 2017;Haseli and Malekpour Fard, 2017). A phenomenal 57 (i.e., 28%) of these genera have been erected in the mere 17 yr since the turn of the 21st century.…”