Haliotrematoides gracilihamus ( Zhukov, 1976 ) Kritsky, Delane C., Tingbao, Yang & Yuan, Sun, 2009

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 : 32-33

Haliotrematoides gracilihamus ( Zhukov, 1976) n. comb.

( Figs. 79–85)

Syn. Haliotrema gracilihamus Zhukov, 1976 .

Source of current specimens: Grey snapper, Lutjanus griseus (Linnaeus) (Lutjanidae) : Rock jetty, Keys Marine Laboratory, Marathon Key (Florida Keys), Florida (24 o 42'04"N, 81 o 07'30"W), 12 July 2003. Dog snapper, Lutjanus jocu (Bloch & Schneider) (Lutjanidae) : Rock jetty, Keys Marine Laboratory, Marathon Key (Florida Keys), Florida (24 o 42'04"N, 81 o 07'30"W), 12 July 2003. Schoolmaster snapper, Lutjanus apodus (Walbaum) (Lutjanidae) : Rock jetty, Keys Marine Laboratory, Marathon Key (Florida Keys), Florida (24 o 42'04"N, 81 o 07'30"W), 12 July 2003; off Isla Mujeras, Quintana Roo, Mexico (21 o 14'32"N, 86 o 45'50"W), no date. Cubera snapper, Lutjanus cyanopterus (Cuvier) (Lutjanidae) : off Colón, Panama, 27 June 1970 (no coordinates available). Mullet snapper, Lutjanus aratus (Günther) : Playas Mataschupa, Managua, Nicaragua (no coordinates available), 9 August 1973.

Type host and locality: Schoolmaster snapper, Lutjanus apodus (Lutjanidae) : Campeche Bay (Area Havana) ( Zhukov, 1976).

Site of infection: Gills.

Specimens studied: 22 voucher specimens (from L. griseus ), USNPC 101356, BMNH 2008.11.19.42-46; 11 voucher specimens (from L. apodus ), USNPC 101360, 101361, BMNH 2008.11.19.52-54; 15 voucher specimens (from L. jocu ), USNPC 101359, BMNH 2008.11.19.47-51; 2 voucher specimens (from L. cyanopterus ), USNPC 101358; 2 voucher specimens (from L. aratus ), USNPC 101357.

Previous records (all as Haliotrema gracilihamus ): Lutjanus apodus : Campeche Bay (area Havana) ( Zhukov 1976); Puerto Rico ( Bosques Rodríguez 2004). Lutjanus jocu : Campeche Bay (area Havana) ( Zhukov 1976); Puerto Rico ( Bosques Rodríguez 2004). Lutjanus griseus : southern coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico (Gonzáles-Solís 2007); Puerto Rico ( Bosques Rodríguez 2004). Lutjanus mahogoni : Puerto Rico ( Bosques Rodríguez 2004).

Redescription: Greatest width usually near body midlength, infrequently in anterior trunk. Cephalic region broad; cephalic lobes poorly developed. Posterior eyespots with lenses. Pharynx subspherical. Testis ovate; seminal vesicle inconspicuous or absent. MCO comprising proximal bowl-shaped base, funnel-shaped proximal and coiled distal portions of tubular shaft; coil counterclockwise, with about 2 complete rings. Small pyriform prostatic reservoir lying to left of MCO. Germarium generally subovate. Vaginal pore simple at midlength of trunk; seminal vestibule small (or absent); vaginal canal delicate, extending to small seminal receptacle near body midline. Ventral anchor with nearly perpendicular superficial root, subtriangular deep root, slightly curved delicate shaft, recurved point with superficial grooves. Dorsal anchor with elongate superficial root, inconspicuous deep root, straight shaft, recurved point; distal shaft and point superficially grooved. Ventral bar with short posteromedial shield-like process, anteromedial flap having two bilateral pockets, ends generally bent posteriorly; dorsal bar rod-shaped, bent at midlength, V shaped. Hook distribution typical, except hook pairs 2, 3 may occur far anteriorly on trunk, frequently to level of posterior margin of testis.

Measurements: Table 5.

Remarks: Haliotrema gracilihamus was described by Zhukov (1976) from the gills of L. apodus and L. jocu in the Gulf of Mexico. It is transferred to Haliotrematoides as H. gracilihamus ( Zhukov, 1976) n. comb. based on the comparative morphology of the haptoral and copulatory sclerites, the distribution of hooks and the general internal anatomy. The type locality for the species is assumed to be the Bay of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico (off Mexico), although Zhukov (1976) indicates that his hosts were collected from “area Havana, Bay Campeche (translated).” Havana (the capital of Cuba) is not located within the Bay of Campeche, and it is presumed that Zhukov’s collections occurred in the Bay of Campeche, while he was stationed at the capital city.

*Specimens contracted

The finding of H. gracilihamus on L. cyanopterus from the Caribbean Sea off Panama, and on L. aratus from the Eastern Pacific off Nicaragua represent new host and locality records for the species; however, the occurrence of the species on L. aratus requires confirmation as the two specimens available for study were contracted and determination of morphological detail hampered. Occurrences of H. gracilihamus on L. griseus , L. jocu and L. apodus from the Florida Keys is a new locality record for the parasite on these hosts.