Latericaecum Young, 1969

Domingues, Marcus V. & Boeger, Walter A., 2008, Phylogeny and revision of Diplectanidae Monticelli, 1903 (Platyhelminthes: Monogenoidea), Zootaxa 1698, pp. 1-40 : 23

Latericaecum Young, 1969

Diagnosis: Tegument smooth. Genital pore opening posterior to male copulatory organ (MCO). Genital atrium muscular. Vas deferens intercaecal. MCO tubular, composed of 2 nested tubes; external tube uniform. Accessory piece absent [35]. Prostatic reservoir simple. Accessory copulatory organ absent. Vaginal atrium muscular. Vaginal aperture medial. Squamodiscs ventral, dorsal; anterior rows of rodlets with closed rings [36]; intermediate rows of rodlets with anterior lightly sclerotized blunt spinelet [37]. Superficial root of ventral anchor reduced. Parasites of marine perciform fishes ( Sphyraenidae ).

Type-species: L. pearsoni Young, 1969 from Sphyraena obtusata Cuvier.

Other species: L. cazauxi ( Oliver & Paperna, 1984) n. comb. from Sphyraena flavicauda Rüppel , Sphyraena jello Cuvier , and Sphyraena obtusata .

Remarks: Young (1969) reported 12 haptoral hooks and intestinal diverticulae for Latericaecum pearsoni . Our study of available specimens confirms the presence of 14 hooks, similar in distribution and morphology to the other diplectanids. However, the intestinal diverticulae were not visible in the specimens limiting its use in the generic diagnosis.

The comparative morphology of male copulatory organ, squamodiscs, and host group suggested that Diplectanum cazauxi is congeneric with L. pearsoni , as proposed by Kritsky et al. (2000). This species is, thus, transferred to Latericaecum as L. cazauxi n. comb.