Menziesia ovalis ( Yamaguti, 1968 ) Gibson, 1976

Whittington, I. D., Deveney, M. R. & Wyborn, S. J., 2001, A revision of Benedenia Diesing, 1858 including a redescription of B. sciaenae (van Beneden, 1856) Odhner, 1905 and recognition of Menziesia Gibson, 1976 (Monogenea: Capsalidae), Journal of Natural History 35 (5), pp. 663-777 : 752-755

Menziesia ovalis ( Yamaguti, 1968) Gibson, 1976

(®gures 38, 39)

Synonyms. Pseudobenedenia ovalis Yamaguti, 1968 ; Parabenedenia ovalis ( Yamaguti, 1968) Gibson, 1976 ; Benedenia ovalis ( Yamaguti, 1968) Egorova, 1997 .

Material studied. USNPC: 36947 (SY No. 93) (holotype) (1 slide, 1 specimen) ex Etelis marshi (Jenkins) (5 E. carbunculus Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, see Allen, 1985), Hawaii.

Observations. This reappraisal of M. ovalis is limited because of the poor quality of the type material. Menziesia ovalis is a small benedeniine (®gure 3C) at 2.5 mm long. The penis is typically long although less curved close to the accessory gland reservoir (®gures 38A, 39) than in M. noblei and M. merinthe . Yamaguti reported that the duct of the accessory gland and the vas deferens unite near the tip of the penis and we con®rm this feature. The accessory gland reservoir lies dorsal to the proximal end of the penis inside the penis canal (®gures 38A, 39). The vagina is long with muscular walls (®gures 38A, 39) and sperm occur in the proximal end of the wide lumen. The vaginal pore is just posterior to the common genital pore and both pores are located marginally and dorsal near the posterior margin of the left anterior attachment organ (®gures 38A, 39). The vitelline reservoir is large and oOEset to the left side of the worm (®gures 38A, 39). We observed an internal fertilization chamber in the germarium. The ®ne duct joining the vitelline reservoir and the oviduct which Yamaguti depicted in his ®gure 7a appears to be a strand of connective tissue and not a duct as suggested in his drawing. The testes are large and widely spaced (®gures 38A, 39). The haptor is longer than wide. The accessory sclerites have an arrowhead-shape d inātion at their distal third, a bi®d proximal end (®gure 38A, B) and protrude through raised tissue on the haptor surface. The anterior hamuli are long, ®ne and have wavy proximal ends (®gure 38A, C). The posterior hamuli are ®ne with wavy proximal ends (®gure 38A, D). The anterior hamuli overlap a third of the proximal ends of the accessory sclerites; the anterior hamuli overlap the proximal two-thirds of the posterior hamuli (®gure 38A). The marginal valve is scalloped and well-preserved in Yamaguti’s holotype, but we could not determine the relationship between the lobes of the marginal valve and the hooklets. Each lobe, however, is of fairly uniform width, as depicted by Yamagut i (1968).

Type-host and locality. Etelis marshi (5 Etelis carbunculus ) ( Lutjanidae ).

Published record and description. Yamaguti (1968).

Published host records. Lutjanidae : Etelis carbunculus ; E. marshi (now synonymous with Etelis carbunculus ); Priacanthidae : Priacanthus boops (5 Cookeolus boops ).

Site . Body surface.

Distribution. Hawaii.

Remarks. Menziesia ovalis can be diOEerentiated from congeners by a combination of features: arrowhead-shape d distal ends of the accessory sclerites;`wavy’ proximal tips of the ®ne anterior and posterior hamuli; widely spaced testes; and position of the common genital and vaginal pores, which are located much more anteriorly than in all other Menziesia species. Menziesia ovalis was recorded from the same host as Benedenia elongata , namely Cookeolus boops . Yamaguti used hosts collected from ®sh markets and further study is required to determine whether or not the host records for B. elongata and M. ovalis represent the true host range of these parasite species or whether specimens may have`changed hosts’ in the ®sh market.