Transversotrema borboleta

Hunter, Janet A. & Cribb, Thomas H., 2012, A cryptic complex of species related to Transversotrema licinum Manter, 1970 from fishes of the Indo-West Pacific, including descriptions of ten new species of Transversotrema Witenberg, 1944 (Digenea: Transversotrematidae), Zootaxa 3176, pp. 1-44 : 21-23

Transversotrema borboleta n. sp

( Figs. 5a, 5b & 5c )

Type-host: Genotype 1 Chaetodon lunula (Lacepède) , Chaetodontidae, Raccoon butterflyfish.

Type-locality: G1 and G2 Lizard Island, northern GBR, Queensland, Australia, (14°40´S, 145°28´E), G3 Heron Island southern GBR, Queensland (23°27’S 151°55’E).

Other hosts: G1 Chaetodontidae : Chaetodon auriga (Forsskål) ; Threadfin butterflyfish; Chaetodon citrinellus (Cuvier, Speckled butterflyfish; Chaetodon ephippium (Cuvier) , Saddle butterflyfish; Black butterflyfish; Chaetodon lineolatus (Cuvier) , Lined butterflyfish; Chaetodon rafflesi (Bennett) , Latticed butterflyfish; Chaetodon ulietensus (Cuvier) , Pacific double-saddle butterflyfish; Chaetodon vagabundus (Linnaeus) , Vagabond butterflyfish. Lutjanidae : Lutjanus bohar (Forsskål) , Red Bass; Lutjanus carponotatus (Richardson) , Spanish flag snapper; Lutjanus gibbus (Forsskål) , Humpback red snapper; Lutjanus monostigma (Cuvier) , Onespot seaperch; Lutjanus quinquelineatus (Bloch) , Five-Lined seaperch; Macolor niger (Fowler) , Midnight seaperch.

G2 ( Lutjanidae ): Lutjanus bohar (Forsskål) Two-spot red snapper; Lutjanus fulviflamma (Forsskål) ; Lutjanus fulvus (Forsskål) Dory snapper; Lutjanus gibbus (Forsskål) ; Humpback red snapper; Lutjanus kasmira (Forsskål) , Common bluestripe snapper; Lutjanus quinquelineatus (Bloch) , Five-lined snapper; Lutjanus russelli (Bleeker) Russell’s snapper; Macolor niger (Forsskål) , Black and white snapper.

G3 Lutjanus sebae (Cuvier) , Red Emperor snapper; Lutjanus adetii, (Castelnau) , Yellow-banded snapper; Pterocaesio marri Schultz Marr’s fusilier.

Site: Beneath the scales

Materials examined: see Tables 5 , 6, 8 & 9

Molecular sequence data: ITS2 rDNA

GenBank accession numbers: Table 2

Deposited specimens: Holotype Genotype 1 QM G238126 (ex Chaetodon lunula LI coll. Cribb et al. Jun 2005) and paratypes Chaetodontidae : QMG 231827 (ex Chaetodon lunula LI coll. Cribb et al. Jun 2005), QMG 231828 (ex Chaetodon lunula LI coll. Cribb et al. Jun 2005), QM G321828 (ex Chaetodon auriga LI coll. Cribb et al. Jun 2005), QM G231829 (ex Chaetodon ephippeum LI coll. Cribb et al. Jun 2005), QM G321830 (ex Chaetodon rafflesi LI coll. Cribb et al. Dec 2000), QM G321831 (ex Chaetodon vagabundus LI coll. Cribb et al. 2 Aug 2002) QM G231832 (ex Chaetodon vagabundus LI coll. Cribb et al. 5 Jun 2005), QM G321833 (ex Chaetodon ulietensis LI coll. Cribb et al. May 1997), QM G231892–895 (ex Lutjanus carponotatus LI coll. Cribb et al. Jul– Sep 05), QM G231813 (ex L. carponotatus LI coll. Cribb et al. May 2004), QM G231888 (ex Lutjanus bohar LI coll. Cribb, Bray & Adlard May 1997),.

Paratypes Lutjanidae : Genotype 2 QM G231889, QM G231810 (ex L. fulviflamma LI, coll. Cribb et al. May 2004), QM G231890–91 (ex L. fulviflamma LI, coll. Cribb et al. Jun 05), QM G231809 (ex L. fulvus Lizard Island, coll. Cribb et al. 4 Apr 2006); QM G231811 (ex L. fulvus LI, coll. Cribb et al. 1 Jun 2005), QM G231812 (ex L. kasmira LI, coll. Cribb et al. May 2004), QM G231814 (ex L. quinquelineatus LI coll. Cribb et al. 15 Jun 2004), QM G231815 (ex L. quinquelineatus LI coll. Cribb et al. 5 Jun 2005), QM G 231816 (ex L. quinquelineatus LI coll. Cribb et al. 5 Jun 2005), QM G231818 (ex L. russelli LI coll. Cribb, Bay & Adlard April 1997), QM G231817 (ex Macolor niger LI coll. Cribb et al. 2006). Genotype 3 QMG 231836 (ex L. adetii HI coll. Anderson 19 Jan 1991).

Etymology: The common name of the Chaetodontidae is Butterfly fish. The name borboleta is the Portuguese word for butterfly. As the holotype of this species is mainly associated with the chaetodontids it is an appropriate name.

Description: based on measurements of 60 mature specimens. Body transversely elongated, lancet shaped, strongly dorsoventrally flattened, widest at equator 272–912 (456) µm long, 941–2,672 (1,474) µm wide; average width/length range 3:1. Pharynx to anterior margin 82–305 (150); cyclocoel to posterior margin at midline 44–117 (69). Tegumental spines prominent. Eyespots prominent, paired, central in anterior half of body not anterior to pharynx, spaced 75–268 (126) µm apart, 8–10 (9%) of body width, no pigment evident other than in eyespots. Ventral sucker well posterior to eyespots, 1986–4358 (3018) μm2. Mouth mid-ventral, inconspicuous. Pharynx slightly posterior to eyespots, 41–107 (58) µm long, 42–132 (68) µm wide. Oesophagus curved 31–71 (53). Caecal bifurcation dorsal to ventral sucker. Caeca form cyclocoel reaching laterally to envelop testes, ovary and some vitelline follicles. Testes opposite, round, deeply lobed, symmetrical; not contiguous; left testis surface area 9,482–45,934 (18,816) μm2; right testis surface area 9,454–44,340 (18,539) μm2. Cirrus-sac absent. Seminal vesicle distinctly bipartite, composed of enclosed and extracaecal portions; enclosed portion proximal to testes, saccular, distinctly lobed or entire, anterodextral to right testis, constricted distally to form narrow duct which passes ventral to cyclocoel and leads to extracaecal portion; extracaecal portion tubular, winding, long, passes laterally along line of cyclocoel towards midline of body, then turns anteriorly and proceeds between eyespots, dextral to pharynx, forms naked ejaculatory duct distally. Common genital pore precisely in midline on anterior margin of worm. Ovary extended prominent lobes (five), sinistral to but not contiguous with, left testis 2,265–11,953 (5,830) μm2. Oviduct passes medio-posteriorly from ovary. Seminal receptacle uterine, proximal to genital pore. Mehlis’s gland observed. Laurer’s canal unites with oviduct posterior to ovary, passes and joins vitelline reservoir further posteriorly, passes posteriorly to open dorsally, close to left testis, median portion of canal dilated, contains sperm or vitelline remnants. Vitelline reservoir immediately anterior to left testis. Uterus passes medially between anterior half of cyclocoel and testes then between right testis and saccular portion of seminal vesicle. Proximal portions of uterus act as seminal receptacle. Vitellarium follicular; vitelline follicles dense, scattered in extracaecal and enclosed areas of body. Extracaecal vitelline follicles large, confluent, lateral and posterior to cyclocoel, loosely assembled anterior to cyclocoel to midway from lateral margin to pharynx. Enclosed follicles in one mass at each lateral extremity not scattered along posterior margin of cyclocoel posterior to testes, follicles number 15–35 (24). Eggs 62–127 (92) long and 34–57 (43.5) wide, tanned, no operculum observed, apparently unembryonated in utero, few, average of two in utero per individual. Excretory bladder opens posteriorly at small notch in middle of posterior margin, extends anteriorly initially as narrow tube which then expands into large sac which passes ventrally to cyclocoel anterior to which it becomes laterally directed.

Remarks: Transversotrema borboleta n. sp. as described above ( Fig. 5a ) is one of a group of three genotypes which have very similar morphologies and are closely related genetically. The species described here is genotype one (G1). The drawings above ( Figures 5a , b and c ) show that there are only subtle differences among the three genotypes and Table 15 illustrates their morphometric similarities. Testes and ovary measurements, which are similar in range, and a Boxplot analysis (data not shown) reveals the mean of T. borboleta n. sp. G2 measurements are considerably larger than those from T. borboleta n. sp. G 1 in all three regions. There are differences also in the measurement ranges for pharynx width and length with those for T. borboleta n. sp. G1 greater than those for G2, and conversely T. borboleta n. sp. G1 has a much shorter oesophagus. Transversotrema borboleta n. sp resembles T. licinum as described by Manter (1970) but differs in having a straighter anterior margin and a greater range of length and width measurements with T. borboleta n. sp. reaching 912 µm in length and 2672 µm in width compared to 576 µm and 1767 µm for T. licinum . Another distinguishing feature is the distribution of the vitelline follicles which in specimens of T. borboleta n. sp. extend almost to the lateral margin and scatter sparsely across the anterior margin to about half the distance from the genital pore on each side. Follicles in Manter’s (1970) description are restricted to the region at the lateral areas of the cyclocoel (p. 497). The overall shape of T. borboleta n. sp. is quite different from that of T. atkinsoni n. sp. The distribution of the enclosed vitelline follicles in T. atkinsoni n. sp. is along the posterior margin of the cyclocoel posterior to the testes however this feature is not seen in T. borboleta n. sp., and follicles external to the cyclocoel in T. atkinsoni n. sp. do not extend beyond the level of the cyclocoel towards the anterior margin as do those external follicles in T. borboleta n. sp.. A further difference is in the measurements of the testes and ovary of both species which show that these characters in T. borboleta n. sp. are much greater than those of T. atkinsoni n. sp.

Figures

FIGURE 5 a. Transversotrema borboleta n. sp. G 1 ex Chaetodon lunula Lizard Island. Scale = 200 μm.

FIGURE 5 b. Transversotrema borboleta G 2 ex Lutjanus fulvus Lizard Island. Scale = 200 μm.

FIGURE 5 c. Transversotrema borboleta G 3 ex Lutjanus adetii Heron Island. Scale = 200 μm.