Haliotrematoides potens Kritsky & Justine

Kritsky, Delane C., Tingbao, Yang & Yuan, Sun, 2009, Dactylogyrids (Monogenoidea, Polyonchoinea) parasitizing the gills of snappers (Perciformes, Lutjanidae): Proposal of Haliotrematoides n. gen. and descriptions of new and previously described species from marine fishes of the Red Sea, the eastern and Indo-west Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, Zootaxa 1970 (1970), pp. 1-51 : 20

Haliotrematoides potens Kritsky & Justine n. sp.

( Figs. 36–41)

Type host and locality: Mangrove red snapper, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskål) (Lutjanidae) : Grande Rade, Nouméa, New Caledonia, 23 October 2007.

Site of infection: Gills.

Specimens studied: Holotype, MNHN JNC 2332 (Th150); 6 paratypes, USNPC 101336 , MNHN JNC 2332 (Th151), BMNH 2008.11 .19.23.

Etymology: The specific name (an adjective) is from Latin ( potens = strong) and refers to the robust body of the species.

Description: Body robust; greatest width usually near body midlength or in posterior half of trunk. Cephalic lobes well developed. Anterior and posterior eyespots with lenses. Pharynx subovate. Gonads ovate; vas deferens, seminal vesicle, prostate and prostatic vesicle not observed. Base of MCO shaped as a wine glass, tubular shaft twisted and having subterminal sleeve-like expansion and ridge along its distal portion. Vaginal pore simple within slight indentation of tegument; seminal vestibule apparently absent; vaginal canal short, delicate, extending to seminal receptacle. Ventral anchor with poorly differentiate roots, comparatively short robust shaft having large inner blade, straight recurved point superficially grooved. Dorsal anchor with elongate superficial root, inconspicuous to nonexistent deep root, robust shaft having large inner blade, straight recurved point superficially grooved. Ventral bar with two submedial pockets along anterior margin; dorsal bar broadly V shaped, with posteromedial expansion and ridge along anterior margin. Hook distribution typical, except hook pairs 4 and 6 shifted anterior to anchors.

Measurements: Body 356–357 (n = 1) long; greatest width 95–96 (n = 1). Haptor 88–89 (n = 1) long, 71–72 (n = 1) wide. Pharynx 22–23 (n = 1) wide. MCO 90 (83–98; n = 6) long. Ventral anchor 59 (57–60; n = 5) long; dorsal anchor 69 (67–72; n = 5) long. Ventral bar 32 (28–36; n = 2) long; dorsal bar 41 (38–44; n = 2) long. Hook 13 (12–14; n = 15) long. Germarium 31–32 (n = 1) long, 31–32 (n = 1) wide; testis 42–43 (n = 1) long, 33–34 (n = 1) wide.

Remarks: Haliotrematoides potens most closely resembles the type species of the genus, H. hatzenbuehlerae , in the morphology of the anchors and dorsal bar. It differs from the latter species by having two submedial pockets along the anterior margin of the ventral bar and by having a ridge along a portion of the shaft of the MCO; both features are absent in H. hatzenbuehlerae .