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A first for Southern Africa: description of a new Heterobothrium (Monogenea: Diclidophoridae) parasitizing the evileye pufferfish Amblyrhynchotes honckenii (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae)

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Abstract

The monogenean genus Heterobothrium (Monogenea: Diclidophoridae) currently consists of 12 accepted species described globally from various pufferfishes (Tetraodontidae). This includes the economically important Heterobothrium okamotoi Ogawa 1991 that causes severe disease in the cultured tiger puffer Takifugu rubripes in Japan. During parasitological surveys targeting near shore marine fishes of South Africa, a new Heterobothrium was discovered on the gills of five evileye pufferfish Amblyrhynchotes honckenii with a prevalence of 100% and mean intensity of 23 (4–72). Specimens were morphologically studied using both light and scanning electron microscopy and molecularly characterized by sequencing the partial ribosomal gene 28S. Heterobothrium victorwepeneri n. sp. differs from its 12 congeners by a combination of morphological characters, such as fourth clamp pair (anteriormost, 180° inverted) as the smallest with some of the sclerites differing in shape from the other pairs, 8 to 9 genital hooks, number of testes 40–50, and absent isthmus. The 28S tree depicted two main branches, one clustering together species of mazocraeidean families while the other clustered together only species of the Diclidophoridae. Heterobothrium victorwepeneri n. sp. is the first species of its genus to be recorded and described from South Africa and from the tetraodontid A. honckenii. This study also provides for the first time 28S sequence for a species of this highly host-specific genus.

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Acknowledgements

Mrs. Anja Erasmus, Miss Anja Vermaak, Dr. Wynand Malherbe, and Dr. Kerry Hadfield, NWU-Water Research Group, are thanked for their assistance in the field, and Mr. Willem Landman, NWU African Amphibian Conservation Research Group, is thanked for aiding with the scanning electron microscopy. The authors are also thankful to Eva Řehulková and Kateřina Francová, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia; Edgar Mendoza-Franco, Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Instituto de Ecología, Pesquerías y Oceanografía del Golfo de México (EPOMEX); Luis García Prieto, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; and Kazuo Ogawa, Meguro Parasitological Museum, Tokyo, Japan, for providing relevant literature. The authors are deeply grateful to Tomáš Scholz, Blanka Škoríková, and Camila Pantoja, Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czechia, for providing the photomicrographs of H. lamothei; Anna Hara, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, Australia, for providing the photomicrographs of H. torquigeneri; and Kazuo Ogawa, Meguro Parasitological Museum, Tokyo, Japan, for providing the photomicrographs of H. shinagawai and H. yamagutii. Three anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for their valuable corrections and comments. This is contribution #480 from the NWU-Water Research Group.

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AAA received postdoctoral funding from the NWU.

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Correspondence to Aline Angelina Acosta.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Ethical clearance for the collection of fish was obtained from North-West University Animal Care Research Ethics Committee (Ethics number: NWU-0051-19-A5). All applicable guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Section Editor: Shokoofeh Shamsi

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Acosta, A.A., Smit, N.J. A first for Southern Africa: description of a new Heterobothrium (Monogenea: Diclidophoridae) parasitizing the evileye pufferfish Amblyrhynchotes honckenii (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae). Parasitol Res 120, 819–830 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06960-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06960-5

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