Ligophorus uruguayense sp. nov. (Monogenea, Ancyrocephalidae), a gill parasite from Mugil platanus (Mugiliformes, Mugilidae) in Uruguay

Abstract

The present study describes a new species, Ligophorus uruguayense, parasitizing the gills of Mugil platanus Günther, 1880 from the coast of Uruguay. It differs from all other species of the genus mainly in the shape of the ventral bar, the thick process at the distal end of the inner root of ventral anchors, the J-shaped penis accessory piece and the vaginal tube showing transverse annulations at its distal end, the host species, and geographical distribution. This is the first description of a species of Ligophorus from a mullet in the South Atlantic Ocean.

A comparative study of Ligophorus uruguayense and L. saladensis (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) from Mugil liza (Teleostei: Mugilidae) in southern Brazil

“…Specimens found in this host were identified as Ligophorus uruguayense and L. saladensis, both originally described from M. liza in Uruguay and Argentina, respectively (Failla Siquier andOstrowski de Núñez 2009, Marcotegui andMartorelli 2009). Both species are very similar to each other, but could be most reliably distinguished on the basis of the shape of the accessory piece of the male copulatory complex (see Failla Siquier andOstrowski de Núñez 2009, Marcotegui andMartorelli 2009).…”

“…Both species are very similar to each other, but could be most reliably distinguished on the basis of the shape of the accessory piece of the male copulatory complex (see Failla Siquier andOstrowski de Núñez 2009, Marcotegui andMartorelli 2009). The specimens that could not be identified to the species level reliably were excluded from the morphometrical study.…”

“…They were identified as Ligophorus uruguayense Failla Siquier et Ostrowski de Núñez, 2009 and Ligophorus saladensis Marcotegui et Martorelli, 2009, even though specific identification proved to be difficult due to inconsistencies in some diagnostic features reported for these two species. Therefore, a combined morphological and molecular approach was used to critically review the validity of these species, by means of phase contrast and confocal fluorescence microscopical examination of sclerotised hard parts, and assessing the genetic divergence between L. saladensis, L. uruguayense and their congeners using rDNA sequences.…”

Phenotypic plasticity in haptoral structures of Ligophorus cephali (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae) on the flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus): a geometric morphometric approach

“…However, in Ligophorus the pairs of ventral anchors and dorsal anchors are connected, respectively, by ventral and dorsal transverse bars. In L. cephali, as in other species of the genus, these bars are dissimilar in shape and size (Siquier and Ostrowski de Núñez, 2009;Sarabeev et al, 2013) and the ventral bar appears to be more rigid than the dorsal one (Dmitrieva et al, 2012). In fact, the curvature of the dorsal bar can vary sharply (Mariniello et al, 2004;Dmitrieva et al, 2007;Sarabeev et al, 2013).…”

An ecological and comparative analysis of parasites in juvenile Mugil liza (Pisces, Mugilidae) from two sites in Samborombón bay, Argentina

“…Mugil liza Valenciennes, 1836, an economically important food fish has been recommended for aquaculture in South America (Godinho et al, 1988;OIA, 2007), is the only mullet that breeds in Argentina (Gonzalez Castro et al, 2011) Many works have been published about lebranche mullet parasites (Chieffi, 1990;Chieffi et al, 1992;Knoff & Amato, 1992;Knoff & Boeger, 1994;Amado & Rocha,1995;Martinez Okumura et al, 1999;Scholz, 1999;Suriano et al, 2000;Fernandes & Cohen, 2006;Aparecida de Oliveira et al, 2007;Abdallah et al, 2009;Failla Siquier & Ostrowski de Nuñez, 2009;Simões et al, 2010;Montes et al, 2013), but ecological papers have focused mainly on adult fish (Knoff et al, 1997;Ranzani-Paiva & Silva Souza, 2004;Alarcos & Etchegoin, 2010), only Carnevia & Speranza (2003) working with juvenile from Uruguay reported some population indices.…”