Ligophorus benhoussai, Hafidi & Diamanka & Rkhami & Pariselle, 2013

Hafidi, Fouzia El, Diamanka, Arfang, Rkhami, Ouafae Berrada & Pariselle, Antoine, 2013, New species of Ligophorus (Monogenea, Ancyrocephalidae), parasite of Liza spp. (Teleostei, Mugilidae) off the Northwestern African coast, Zoosystema 35 (2), pp. 215-225 : 220-221

Ligophorus benhoussai n. sp.

(Fig. 3)

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype MNHN HEL311 ; paratypes MNHN (1) HEL312, BMNH (5) 2012.12.17.2 (it should be noticed that on this BMNH slide there are also five specimens of Ligophorus hamzati n. sp. which are registered under no. BMNH 2012.12.17.7).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 22 specimens mounted in ammonium picrate-glycerol and five living specimens.

TYPE HOST. — Liza grandisquamis (Valenciennes, 1836) (Mugilidae) .

SITE OF INFECTION. — Gills, between secondary gill lamellae.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Grand Lahou Lagoon, Ivory Coast (5°08’11”N, 5°01’33”E).

OTHER LOCALITIES. — Off Dakar, Senegal (14°43’09”N, 17°25’48”W) and Lake Cayo, Congo (4°43’09”S, 12°00’46”E).

ETYMOLOGY. — The name benhoussai is given for our colleague A. Benhoussa, professor at the faculty of science Mohamed V, Rabat ( Morocco), who participated in the fish collection.

DESCRIPTION

Flattened adult, 551 (447-724) [22] long, 116 (84- 165) [22] wide at gonad level, pharynx 32 (23-39) [22] larger diameter. Haptor well demarcated with 14 marginal hooks: 12 ± 1.5 (7-17) [282] long; two pairs of large anchors, dorsal with shaft three time longer than guard: a = 46 ± 2 (41-49) [44]; b = 35 ± 2 (31-39) [44]; c = 5 ± 0.6 (4-7) [44]; d = 14 ± 1.2 (12-17) [44]; e = 7 ± 0.7 (5-8) [44]; ventral with guard and shaft of comparable size: a = 48 ± 2 (43-51) [44]; b = 43 ± 2 (39-46) [44]; c = 7 ± 0.8 (5-9) [44]; d = 9 ± 1.1 (6-11) [44]; e = 8 ± 0.7 (7-9) [44] and two connective bars, ventral, 45 (34-65) [22] long and 10 (7-13) [22] wide at the middle, with antero-median protuberance and two lateral expansions: 9 (5-13) [22] apart. Dorsal bar invert V-shaped 22 (17-27) [22] long, 5 (3-6) [22] wide and 8 (5-12) [22] high. MCO as a thin and long copulatory tube: 124 (105-138) [22] long, a very long accessory piece sickle-shaped wide at the base and tapering at the end: 92 (76-107) [22] long. Sclerotized vagina, thin and long, a-shaped: 50 (41-76) [22] long.

REMARKS

The comparison of biometric and morphological parameters of the newly described species with the 51 others species known to date, and in particular with those described from Liza spp. shows clear differences: the male copulatory organ of Ligophorus benhoussai n. sp. differs from all known species of Ligophorus in the shape and size of its accessory

FIG. 3. – Ligophorus benhoussai n. sp.:morphological structures as in Fig.1. Abbreviations:see Material & Methods.Scale bar:30 µm.

piece (very long and sickle-shaped), as well as that of its vagina (a- shaped).