Prosobothrium sp.

Marmolejo-Guzman, Linda Yacsiri G., Iv, David, Hern, an G., andez-Mena, Castellanos-Martínez, Sheila & Aguirre-Macedo, M. Leopoldina, 2022, Linking phenotypic to genotypic metacestodes from Octopus maya of the Yucatan Peninsula, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 19, pp. 44-55 : 53

4.7. Prosobothrium sp.

Four individuals of the Prosobothrium genus were recorded in O. maya . All the plerocercoid specimens were found poorly developed, which made it difficult to find structures that allowed for further identification. However, we certainly observed the main characteristics found in larvae that are the four discs present in the scolex ( Fig. 2R–T ; Fig. 3G).

Caira and Jensen (2017) established that only three species belong to genera Prosobothrium , they belong to the Prosobothriidae family, which is characterized by its scolex, with four sessile, circular, and concave (disk-shaped) bothria. In its adult form, it develops dense spines on the surface of the neck. Final hosts are usually sharks, blue sharks, and nurse sharks (Caira and Jensen, 2017).

No viable Prosobothrium sequence was obtained to perform the BLAST search.. It was impossible to complement the morphological observations with molecular data and thus, make a precise identification of this species. However, in accordance with the identification given by Guill´en-Hern´andez et al. (2018a), we retained the parasite isolated from O. maya in the genus Prosobothrium .

Figures

Fig. 2. Schematic drawings and photographs of the stained specimens of cestode parasitizing Octopus maya. Trypanorhyncha (A–D): A- Eutetrarhynchus sp.; B. Kotorella pronosoma; C- Nybelinia sp.; D- Prochristianella sp. Onchoproteocephalidea (E–G): E- Acanthobothrium sp.; F- Phoreiobothrium sp.; G- Prosobothrium sp.- Abbreviations: as = apical sucker; bot = bothridia cc = calcareous corpuscles; lo = loculi; pb = pars bulbosa; pbo = pars bothrialis; ppb = pars postbulbosa; ps = pedunculus scolecis; pv = pars vaginalis; sc = scolex; sp = septa; st = strobilo; vel = velum.