Multitestis pyriformis Manter, 1963

Bray, Rodney A., Cribb, Thomas H. & Justine, Jean-Lou, 2010, Multitestis Manter 1931 (Digenea: Lepocreadiidae) in ephippid and chaetodontid fishes (Perciformes) in the south-western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean off Western Australia, Zootaxa 2427, pp. 36-46 : 38

Multitestis pyriformis Manter, 1963

( Figs 1–4 )

New material. Hosts: Platax orbicularis (Forsskål) , orbicular batfish (juv); Platax teira (Forsskål) , teira batfish ( Ephippidae ).

Site: Intestine.

Localities: P. orbicularis, Lizard Island (14°40’S, 145°28’E, June, 2005); P. teira, Baie de Sainte Marie, Nouméa , New Caledonia (22°18'216S, 166°28'573E, 07/03/2007)

Prevalence: P. orbicularis 1 of 1; P. teira 1 of 2.

Voucher specimens: QM G 230562, MNHN JNC 2125, BMNH 2010.2.10.19-21.

Discussion. Measurements are given in Table 1 . This species was described from the orbicular batfish Platax orbicularis from Palau by Machida (1982), but has not been reported from the teira batfish Platax teira before, as far as we are aware. Our specimens are distinctly pyriform, and are much more similar to the descriptions of Manter (1963) from an ‘unidentified angelfish; grey in color’ from Fiji and Machida (1982) than to the description from the chaetodontid, the goldengirdled coralfish Coradion chrysozonus (Cuvier) from the southern Great Barrier Reef by Bray et al. (1994), where the worms are oval to pyriform and the vitelline fields are less densely packed. Other differences are discussed below, where we suggest that the chaetodontid worm should be recognised as a distinct species.

In connection with the record of Manter (1963) we note that although ‘angelfish’ is the typical common name used for pomacanthids, in the case of Manter’s record we suspect strongly that the fish was an ephippid. Apart from the fact that this is the only record of a Multitestis species from a pomacanthid, two pieces of evidence are relevant. First, we are not aware of any grey pomacanthids in Fiji whereas all the Platax species (the most common hosts of species of Multitestis ) are certainly grey. Second, Madhavi (1972) in describing Multitestis bengalensis Madhavi, 1972 (now Neomultitestis bengalensis ) referred to the host, Platax teira , as an ‘angel fish’ showing that sometimes ephippids are called ‘angel fish’. On this basis, we believe it is reasonable to suppose that the fish examined by Manter was an ephippid and probably a species of Platax .

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. 1 – 2. Multitestis pyriformis Manter, 1963 ex Platax orbicularis, Lizard Island. 1. Ventral view, uterus in outline, vitellarium omitted. 2. Ventral view, vitellarium and outline of suckers only. 3 – 4. Multitestis pyriformis Manter, 1963 ex Platax teira, New Caledonia. 3. Ventral view, uterus in outline, vitellarium omitted. 4. Ventral view, vitellarium and outline of suckers only. Scale-bars: 1, 2, 3, 4, 500 µm.