Light microscopic study of four plagiorchiid trematodes infecting marine fish in the south-eastern Mediterranean Sea, Alexandria City, with descriptions of two new species

Abstract

During the present investigation, a total of 220 fish specimens belonging to three different species, namely, little tunny Euthynnus alletteratus, African snook Lates niloticus, and striped red mullet Mullus surmuletus, were collected from January–November 2016 from the coasts off Abu Qir landing site, Alexandria City, south-eastern Mediterranean Sea, Egypt. The collected fish samples were dissected and examined for the presence of helminth parasites. Twenty-three out of 220 (10.45%) fish specimens were found to be naturally infected with four species of trematode parasites belonging to three different families of the order Plagiorchiida. The recovered parasite species were collected and identified by applying light microscopic examinations. The present study recorded two new parasite species, namely, Stephanostomum alletterani sp. nov. and Bathycreadium mulli sp. nov., belonging to the families Acanthocolpidae and Opecoelidae and infecting E. alletteratus and M. surmuletus, respectively and re-descriptions of the two remaining species, namely, Acanthostomum spiniceps and Aponurus mulli of the families Acanthostomatidae and Opecoelidae, respectively, to clarify the measurements of some body parts. Morphological and morphometric characterizations revealed some differences between the present species and other related species detected previously. Future studies are recommended to include advanced molecular characteristics for these species.