Haplocotyle, Nitta & Nagasawa, 2017

Nitta, Masato & Nagasawa, Kazuya, 2017, Haplocotyle japonica n. gen., n. sp. (Monogenea: Microbothriidae) Parasitic on Rhinobatos hynnicephalus (Elasmobranchii: Rajiformes: Rhinobatidae) in Japanese Waters, Species Diversity 22, pp. 117-125 : 121

Family Microbothriidae Price, 1936

[New Japanese name: kagi-nashi-hada-mushi-ka] Genus Haplocotyle n. gen. [New Japanese name: yamato-kagi-nashi-hada-mushi-zoku]

Diagnosis. Body elliptical. Haptor without sclerotized armature. Mouth opening sub-terminal; buccal cavity with anterior glands; pharynx present; bifurcate intestinal caecum not uniting posteriorly, with numerous diverticula leading laterally. Testis single; vas deferens running anteriorly on left and ventral side of body; seminal vesicle expanded in genital pouch. Male copulatory organ without sclerotized structures in genital pouch, consisting of proximal and distal part of male copulatory tract; male genital opening on ventral in common genital pore. Ovary lobate to round. Vaginal pore ventral, away from common genital pore; vaginal tube thin; oötype meandering, thick-walled, top formed tetrahedral shape, opening posterior to male genital opening in common genital pore. Ectoparasite of Rhinobatidae .

Type species. Haplocotyle japonica n. sp.

Etymology. Haplocotyle is from haplos (Greek), simple, and cotyle (Greek), a cup, referring to the haptor lacking any sclerotized armature.

Japanese name. The new Japanese family name, “kaginashi-hada-mushi” (“ka” means a family) refers to the opisthohaptor without anchors nor hooks, and “hada-mushi” means skin flukes. The new Japanese generic name is a combination of “yamato” meaning Japan and new Japanese family name (“zoku” means a genus).