Prochristianella sp. 1

Marmolejo-Guzman, Linda Yacsiri G., Iv, David, Hern, an G., andez-Mena, Castellanos-Martínez, Sheila & Aguirre-Macedo, M. Leopoldina, 2022, Linking phenotypic to genotypic metacestodes from Octopus maya of the Yucatan Peninsula, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 19, pp. 44-55 : 52-53

4.4. Prochristianella sp. 1

Although the genus Prochristianella is globally distributed, some species are endemic or locally distributed such as Prochristianella sp. 1 which infects elasmobranchs and shrimps in the Gulf of Mexico ( Palm, 2004). Currently, Prochristianella penaei (syn., P. hispida ), and Prochristianella tenuispine are the only species recorded in the Gulf of Mexico

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( Jensen, 2009).

Based on the molecular data of 28S rRNA, the parasites of Prochristianella that infect O. maya are 99% similar to Prochristianella sp. 1 , isolated from the Bonnethead shark Sphyrna tiburo collected in the Gulf of Mexico ( Olson et al., 2010), and Prochristianella macracantha isolated from Taeniura lymma collected in Malaysia ( Haseli et al., 2017). The latter is ruled out as conspecific species since its morphological characteristics differ from the parasites found in O. maya (e.g., in terms of size, basal swelling, and shape and size of the bothria). In addition, P. macracantha is easily distinguished by 2–3 macro hooks at the base of each tentacle. In contrast, macro hooks are absent in Prochristianella sp. 1 , isolated from O. maya ( Palm, 2004) ( Fig. 2I–K ; Fig. 3D). Although the genus Prochristianella is cosmopolitan, some species are endemic or locally distributed ( Palm, 2004). In this work, since the geographical distribution of Prochristianella sp. 1 is restricted to species of elasmobranchs and shrimps in the Gulf of Mexico, we think that the parasites found in Octopus maya belong to Prochristianella sp. 1 species like that reported by Olson et al. (2010).

Figures

Fig. 2. Schematic drawings and photographs of the stained specimens of cestode parasitizing Octopus maya. Trypanorhyncha (A–D): A- Eutetrarhynchus sp.; B. Kotorella pronosoma; C- Nybelinia sp.; D- Prochristianella sp. Onchoproteocephalidea (E–G): E- Acanthobothrium sp.; F- Phoreiobothrium sp.; G- Prosobothrium sp.- Abbreviations: as = apical sucker; bot = bothridia cc = calcareous corpuscles; lo = loculi; pb = pars bulbosa; pbo = pars bothrialis; ppb = pars postbulbosa; ps = pedunculus scolecis; pv = pars vaginalis; sc = scolex; sp = septa; st = strobilo; vel = velum.