Ephedrocephalus Diesing, 1850

Alves, Philippe V., Chambrier, Alain De, Luque, José L. & Scholz, Tomáš, 2018, Towards a robust systematic baseline of Neotropical fish tapeworms (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae): amended diagnoses of two genera from the redtail catfish, Phractocephalus hemioliopterus, Zootaxa 4370 (4), pp. 363-380 : 364-365

Genus Ephedrocephalus Diesing, 1850 —amended diagnosis

Diagnosis. PROTEOcEPhalIdaE , fORmER SUbfamIlY EPhEdROcEPhalINaE . TESTES aNd VITEllINE fOllIclES cORTIcal; OVaRY aNd UTERUS mEdUllaRY. MEdIUm-SIZEd, RObUST WORmS, STRObIla acRaSPEdOTE, WITh lONgITUdINal aNd TRaNSVERSE gROOVES; PROglOTTIdS WIdER ThaN lONg, VaRIablE IN ShaPE aNd SIZE. ScOlEX cONIcal, WIThOUT aPIcal ORgaN, WIdER ThaN PROlIfERaTIVE ZONE (NEcK); mETaScOlEX WEll-dEVElOPEd, WITh lONgITUdINal WRINKlES, fORmEd bY ENlaRgEmENT Of NEcK. SUcKERS RObUST, SPhERIcal, UNIlOcUlaTE. INTERNal lONgITUdINal mUScUlaTURE WEll-dEVElOPEd, WITh NUmEROUS Small bUNdlES Of mUSclE fIbERS. TESTES IN ONE dORSal fIEld, IN ONE laYER, OVERlaPPINg cIRRUS-Sac, VITEllINE fOllIclES aNd OVaRY dORSallY. CIRRUS-Sac ElONgaTE TO PEaR-ShaPEd, INTERNal SPERm dUcT ThIcK-WallEd, STRONglY cOIlEd IN PROXImal half Of cIRRUS-Sac. GENITal PORES maRKEdlY PRE-EqUaTORIal, IRREgUlaRlY alTERNaTINg. GENITal aTRIUm PRESENT, dEEP. OVaRY mEdUllaRY, cOmPacT aNd bIlObEd. VagINa aNTERIOR OR POSTERIOR TO cIRRUS-Sac, SURROUNdEd bY NUmEROUS chROmOPhIlIc cEllS IN dISTal (TERmINal) PaRT (pars copulatrix vaginae); VagINal SPhINcTER PRESENT. VITEllINE fOllIclES IN ONE VENTRal fIEld, dISPERSEd ThROUghOUT almOST ENTIRE PROglOTTId aREa. UTERINE dEVElOPmENT TYPE 1 accORdINg TO dE ChambRIER et al. (2004a, 2015a). EggS lEmON-ShaPEd, cONTaININg laRgE VacUOlES. PaRaSITES Of PImElOdId caTfIShES ( SIlURIfORmES : PImElOdIdaE ) IN ThE NEOTROPIcal REgION.

Type and only known species. Ephedrocephalus microcephalus DIESINg, 1850 .

Differential diagnosis. PREVIOUSlY, Ephedrocephalus WaS TYPE gENUS Of ThE mONOTYPIc SUbfamIlY EPhEdROcEPhalINaE (SEE REgO 1994). ThIS SUbfamIlY WaS UNIqUE amONg PROTEOcEPhalIdS IN ThE mEdUllaRY POSITION Of ThE OVaRY aNd UTERUS, ThE cORTIcal dISTRIbUTION Of VITEllINE fOllIclES (dISPERSEd ThROUghOUT almOST ENTIRElY WIThIN ThE VENTRal cORTEX) aNd ThE TESTES lImITEd TO ONE dORSal fIEld. EVEN ThOUgh ThE SUbfamIlIal claSSIfIcaTION PROPOSEd bY W. N. F. WOOdlaNd (SEE dE ChambRIER et al. 2009a aNd REfERENcES ThEREIN, EXcEPT fOR ThE ERRONEOUS INfORmaTION abOUT ThE dORSal POSITION Of VITEllINE fOllIclES IN ThaT WORK) IS NO lONgER cONSIdEREd ValId bEcaUSE IT dOES NOT cORRESPONd TO ThE INTERRElaTIONS amONg PROTEOcEPhalIdS (dE ChambRIER et al. 2015a), Ephedrocephalus IS REadIlY dISTINgUIShEd fROm all OThER PROTEOcEPhalId gENERa bY ThE abOVE-mENTIONEd chaRacTERISTIcS, ESPEcIallY UNIqUE dISTRIbUTION Of VITEllINE fOllIclES ThROUghOUT ThE ENTIRE VENTRal cORTEX Of ThE PROglOTTIdS ( FIg. 12 ).

Figures

FIGURES10–12. LINe DRAWINgS Of Ephedrocephalus microcephalus DIeSINg, 1850fROM Phractocephalus hemioliopterus. 10. SCOLeX, DORSOVeNTRAL VIeW (MHNG-PLAT-22371) 11. SCOLeX, SAgITTAL SeCTION (MHNG-PLAT-28296). 12. GRAVID PROgLOTTID, VeNTRAL VIeW (MHNG-PLAT-22009). NOTe: THe TeSTeS ARe OMITTeD. Abbreviations: CC—CHROMOPHILIC CeLLS; DO—DORSAL OSMORegULATORY CANALS; gC—gLANDULAR CeLLS; LM—INTeRNAL LONgITUDINAL MUSCULATURe; Me—MeTASCOLeX; OC—OSMORegULATORY CANALS;VO—VeNTRAL OSMORegULATORY CANALS.