Sundapolystoma chalconotae. n. g., n. sp. (Polystomatidae, Polystomatinae) is proposed for a new polystomatid from the urinary bladder of Rana chalconota (Schlegel) in Peninsular Malaysia. This is the first species of polystomatid to be described from the amphibians of Peninsular Malaysia and the second for the Southeast Asian region. This new genus, as exemplified by S. chalconotae, differs from other polystomatids, and in particular Parapolystoma Ozaki, 1935 (P. bulliense (Johnston, 1912) Ozaki, 1935 and P. johnstoni Pichelin, 1995), in having a tubular uterus and a single diffuse testis. P. crooki Vande Vusse, 1976 is similar to S. chalconotae in having a similar type of uterus and testis, and is re-assigned as Sundapolystoma crooki (Vande Vusse, 1976) n. comb. S. chalconotae differs from S. crooki in having anchors with a longer outer root rather than a longer inner root and 7-8 genital spines compared to 9-13 in S. crooki.
Four new species of Calydiscoides Young, 1969 are described from three species of nemipterids caught off Kemaman, Terengganu, on the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia: C. monogrammae n. sp. from Scolopsis monogramma; C. conus n. sp. from S. magaritifer; C. scolopsidis n. sp. from S. margaritifer and S. monogramma; and C. kemamanensis n. sp. from Pentapodus setosus. The present investigation reveals that the squamodiscs (lamellodiscs) are composed of 10-12 short, complete, interlocking and concentric tubular lamellae. The innermost lamella is attached to a pair of adductor muscles.
This is a catalogue and discussion of the known dactylogyridean monogenean genera of siluriform fishes of the Old World. Of a total of 38 nominal genera, only 19 are considered valid. Seventeen of these 19 genera are currently in the Ancyrocephalidae (containing the Ancyrocephalinae and Ancylodiscoidinae), whilst the other two (Neocalceostoma and Neocalceostomoides) are in the Neocalceostomatidae. The 17 genera are Anchylodiscus, Ancylodiscoides, Bagrobdella, Bifurcohaptor, Bychowskyella, Chauhanellus, Cornudiscoides, Hamatopeduncularia, Mizelleus, Paraquadriacanthus, Pseudancylodiscoides, Protoancylodiscoides, Quadriacanthus, Schilbetrema, Schilbetrematoides, Synodontella and Thaparocleidus. Clariotrema Long, 1981 and Neobychowskyella Ma, Wang & Li, 1983 are considered synonyms of Bychowskyella Akhmerov, 1952, Anacornuatus Dubey, Gupta & Agarwal, 1992 is considered a synonym of Quadriacanthus Paperna, 1961, Mizellebychowskia Gupta & Sachdeva, 1990 is considered a synonym of Neocalceostoma Tripathi, 1959 and Hargitrema Tripathi, 1959 is treated as a synonym of Hamatopeduncularia Yamaguti, 1953. It is proposed that the Ancylodiscoidinae be raised to family status within the order Dactylogyridea to accommodate these 17 'ancyrocephalid' genera from siluriforms, together with Malayanodiscoides and Notopterodiscoides from notopterids. A key and the diagnostic characteristics of the 19 recognised dactylogyridean genera from catfishes plus two from notopterids, together with a list of species and synonyms, are included. New combinations made in this work are Thaparocleidus avicularia (Chen, 1987) n. comb., T. calyciflorus (Chen, 1987) n. comb., T. choanovagina (Luo & Lang, 1981) n. comb., T. dissimilis (Chen, 1988) n. comb., T. leiocassis (Reichenbach-Klinke, 1959) n. comb., T. meticulosa (Chen, 1987) n. comb., T. parasoti (Zhao & Ma, 1999) n. comb., T. persculpus (Chen, 1987) n. comb., T. valga (Chen, 1987) n. comb. and T. wulingensis (Yao & Wang, 1997) n. comb. [all from Silurodiscoides] and Bychowskyella glyptothoraci (Ma, Wang & Li, 1983) n. comb. [from Neobychowskyella].
A new species of Acroeimeria Paperna & Landsberg, 1989 is described from the spotted house gecko, Gekko monarchus (Schlegel) from Peninsular Malaysia. Oöcysts of Acroeimeria grismeri n. sp. are spheroidal to subspheroidal with a smooth bi-layered wall, measure on average 18.4 × 17.3 µm, and have a length/width (L/W) ratio of 1.1; a micropyle and an oöcyst residuum are absent but variable polar granule(s) are present, commonly in Brownian movement. Sporocysts are ellipsoidal and measure on average 8.6 × 6.7 µm, L/W 1.3; Stieda, sub-Stieda and para-Stieda bodies are absent. The sporocyst residuum is composed of numerous spheroidal granules in the center of the sporocyst. This is the initial species of coccidian reported from G. monarchus and one of the few reported from any reptile from Peninsular Malaysia.
Ninety-five specimens of 14 freshwater fish species from small streams in the Kuala Terengganu district and the Lake Kenyir Reservoir, Malaysia, were surveyed for coccidian infections. Six fish species proved to be infected with apicomplexans belonging to the genus Goussia. In all of these fishes Goussia species were found in unsporulated and semisporulated stages. Oöcysts of four species inhabiting the intestinal epithelium became sporulated in tap-water within 24 hours. In two fish species sporulation failed and only unsporulated oöcysts were recorded in the intestine. Three of the intestinal species finishing sporulation proved to be new to science and were described as Goussia malayensis n. sp., G. bettae n. sp. and G. pogonognathi n. sp. from Apocheilus panchax, Betta splendens and Hemirhamphodon pogonognatus, respectively. The fourth species, found in Trichogaster pectoralis, was identified as G. trichogasteri Székely & Molnár, 1992, a species known from aquarium-cultured T. trichopterus.
Proyseria decora (Dujardin, 1845) (the type-species of the genus Proyseria Petter, 1959) is redescribed on the basis of specimens from Alcedo atthis (L.) (Coraciiformes: Alcedinidae) from Iran. P. petterae n. sp. is described from Corythornis vintsioides (Eydoux & Gervais) (Alcedinidae) from Madagascar by light and scanning electron microscopy. Proyseria sp. from Alcedo euryzona Temminck from continental Malaysia is described on the basis of a single male specimen. Stegophorus alcedonis Puqin, Yanyin & Guocal, 1991 from A. atthis in China is transferred to the genus Proyseria as P. alcedonis n. comb. The generic diagnosis of Proyseria is amended. Review of the species of the genera Proyseria and Stegophorus Wehr, 1934 is presented.
Quazithelazia rostrata n. sp. from Ceyx erithaca (L.) (type-host) and Alcedo euryzona Temminck (Coraciiformes, Alcedinidae) and Q. alata n. sp. from Enicurus ruficapillus Temminck (Passeriformes, Muscicapidae) are described from vicinities of Gombak Biological Station, Selangor, Malaysia; both species are parasitic under the koilin lining of the gizzard. Paratypes of Schistogendra pelargopsis Nandi, De & Majumdar, 1985, a parasite of Pelargopsis capensis (L.) (Alcedinidae) from India, are redescribed and the species is recognised as a junior synonym of the type-species of Quasithelazia, Q. tenuis Maplestone, 1932 (new synonymy), a species originally described from Halcyon smyrnensis (L.) (Alcedinidae) in India. An amended diagnosis of the genus Quasithelazia Maplestone, 1932 is proposed. Currently, this genus includes eight species occurring in the Old World, six of them parasitic in kingfishers (Alcedinidae) and two species parasitic in flycatchers (Muscicapidae). These include, inter alia, Q. halcyoni n. comb. for Viktorocara halcyoni Ryzhikov & Khokhlova, 1964 from Halcyon smyrnensis and H. pileata (Boddaert) in Vietnam and the Russian Far East, Q. microcordonis n. comb. for Rusguniella microcordonis Schmidt & Kuntz, 1971 from Halcyon coromanda major (Temminck & Schlegel) in Taiwan and Q. multipapillata n. comb. for Schistogendra multipapillata Zhang, 1993 from Tarsiger cyanurus (Pallas) (Muscicapidae) in China. Comparative morphological data for Quasithelazia spp. are presented. Schistogendra oligopapillata Zhang & An, 2002 from domestic ducks in China is considered a species incertae sedis.
Two new tentaculariid species were found infecting carcharhiniform sharks from off the coasts of Malaysian Borneo and the southwestern coast of the Baja California Sur, Mexico. Both new species exhibit a homeoacanthous heteromorphous basal and a homeoacanthous homeomorphous metabasal armature. Since this hook arrangement is unique within the tentaculariids and the taxonomy in this group deeply depends on the tentacular armature, Reimeriella n. g. is erected to accommodate R. varioacantha n. sp. ex Carcharhinus sorrah (Müller & Henle) and R. mexicoensis n. sp. ex Sphyrna lewini (Griffith & Smith). Unlike R. mexicoensis n. sp., R. varioacantha n. sp. has a pars bothrialis not overlapping the pars bulbosa and the number of testes is higher. Reimeriella mexicoensis n. sp. possesses very large uncinate to falcate hooks in the basal armature, while in R. varioacantha n. sp. these hooks are almost the same in size as the remaining hooks in both the basal and metabasal armature. The latter species is the first tentaculariid species where the metabasal armature very closely resembles an eutetrarhynchid with a heteroacanthous typical homeomorphous metabasal armature and a high number of spiniform hooks per half spiral row (10-11 vs 6-7 in R. mexicoensis n. sp.) in the metabasal and apical armature. This pattern provides further morphological evidence for the close relationship of the Eutetrarhynchoidea and the Tentacularioidea. Reimeriella varioacantha n. sp. enriches the trypanorhynch fauna from off the coast of Malaysian Borneo while R. mexicoensis n. sp. is a novel record of a tentaculariid trypanorhynch from the Mexican Pacific.
A new nematode, Elaeolenchus parthenonema n. g., n. sp., is described from the palm-pollinating weevil Elaeidobius kamerunicus Faust. The new genus is placed in the Anandranematidae n. fam., which, together with the genus Anandranema Poinar et al., 1993, is characterised by nematodes having only a single autotokous generation in the insect host. This is the first report of a member of this superfamily reproducing only parthenogenetically. The development of E. parthenonema and its effect on the weevil host is discussed, along with a phylogenetic synopsis of the families of the Sphaerularioidea Lubbock 1861. The Beddingiidae n. fam. is proposed for Beddingia Blinova & Korenchenko, 1986, comprising the original Deladenus parasites of Hymenoptera that possess both free-living and parasitic amphimictic generations in their life-cycles. This family is considered to have the most primitive type of development in the superfamily.
Sampling of a large number of elasmobranchs from coastal waters off Borneo revealed the presence of five new species of Dollfusiella Campbell & Beveridge, 1994 (Trypanorhyncha: Eutetrarhynchidae), namely D. angustiformis n. sp., D. hemispinosa n. sp., D. spinosa n. sp., D. imparispinis n. sp. and D. parva n. sp. Dollfusiella angustiformis n. sp. is described from the spiral intestines of four species of the dasyatid stingray genus Himantura Müller & Henle from both the Indonesian and Malaysian parts of Borneo. All the other species were obtained from Malaysian Borneo. Dollfusiella hemispinosa n. sp. is described from the spiral intestines of three species of Himantura, whereas D. spinosa n. sp. was obtained from several specimens of Pastinachus solocirostris Last, Manjaji & Yearsley (Dasyatidae) as well as from Taeniura lymma 1 (sensu Naylor et al., 2012) (Dasyatidae), Neotrygon kuhlii 2 (sensu Naylor et al., 2012) (Dasyatidae), and Glaucostegus cf. typus (sensu Naylor et al., 2012) (Rhinobatidae). Dollfusiella imparispinis n. sp. is described from the spiral intestine of a single specimen of Chiloscyllium punctatum Müller & Henle (Hemiscyllidae) from the South China Sea off Sarawak, whereas D. parva n. sp. was obtained from several species of Himantura. Specimens of the five novel taxa possess scoleces covered with enlarged microtriches, a morphological characteristic exhibited by several other congeners. However, the new species differ from all congeners by possessing unique patterns of oncotaxy as well as combinations of additional morphological features. The number of valid species within Dollfusiella is increased to 26. For this reason, a key for the species of Dollfusiella is provided. Furthermore, novel information on hosts and geographic distribution is provided for two previously described species of Dollfusiella, D. michiae (Southwell, 1929) and D. spinulifera (Beveridge & Jones, 2000). The latter species differs slightly from the original description and shows a much higher variability with regard to the lengths of the scolex and muscular bulbs and the number of testes. These variable characters subdivided specimens of D. spinulifera into relatively distinct groups. However, the specimens did not differ in their oncotaxy and are considered to represent a single variable species.
A new genus of trypanorhynch cestode is described from two species of sharks, the sliteye shark Loxodon macrorhinus Müller & Henle and the straight-tooth weasel shark Paragaleus tengi (Chen) collected in the Makassar Strait (off Indonesian Borneo) and Sulu Sea (off Malaysian Borneo). Ancipirhynchus afossalis n. g., n. sp. possesses two bothria and a heteroacanthous, heteromorphous tentacular armature with three distinctive files of hooks on the external tentacle surface but lacks prebulbar organs and gland cells within the tentacular bulbs. The hook arrangement of alternating files on the external surface of the tentacle resembles that seen in the superfamily Otobothrioidea Dollfus, 1942 in the genus Fossobothrium Beveridge & Campbell, 2005. However, the new species lacks the defining characteristic of this group, i.e. the paired bothrial pits. A Bayesian inference (BI) analysis of 37 LSU sequences of trypanorhynchs from three superfamilies provided evidence supporting the taxonomic placement of Ancipirhynchus afossalis n. g., n. sp. within the Otobothrioidea.
We redescribe the camallanid nematode Serpinema octorugatum (Baylis, 1933) from the box turtle Cuora amboinensis (Daudin) collected in Malaysia. In this redescription, we amend the original description by noting that there are only four cephalic papillae and that there are five pairs of post-anal papillae, and propose that the name of this species be corrected from S. octorugatus to S. octorugatum. Additionally, we removed the tissues overlying the buccal capsule and have used SEM studies to show that the peribuccal shields extend laterally from the buccal capsule, forming a surface possibly used in muscle attachment. Furthermore, we show that the supposedly non-cuticularised cylinder connecting the buccal capsule to the oesophagus in the Camallanidae is part of the buccal capsule and is, therefore, likely to be cuticularised. We also examine morphological measurements of taxonomic interest for correlations with total body length and find that many characters traditionally used for inter- and intra-specific comparisons are correlated with total body length in adult female worms. This suggests that comparisons between samples of adult female worms that do not account for the potential effect of total body length may be misleading. However, we show that some features of taxonomic interest are not correlated with total body length.
Culturing fishes in marine cages is a rapidly developing area of marine aquaculture. The Asian seabass Lates calcarifer (Bloch) is a fast growing good quality fish that is readily cultured in intensive systems in the South Asian region and in Malaysia in particular. Although several papers have been published to date on viral, bacterial, parasitic and fungal organisms causing diseases in the Asian seabass, the occurrence of a coccidian infection in this species has only recently been recorded. We collected sporulated and unsporulated oöcysts of a new species of Goussia Labbé, 1986, from the mucus covering the epithelium of the intestine of L. calcarifer. This paper provides a description of Goussia kuehae n. sp. Sporulated oöcysts of this species are ellipsoidal, 37-40 μm in length and 28-30 μm in width. The ellipsoidal sporocysts are relatively small, 15.2-17 × 5.7-8 μm, and located loosely in the oöcyst. There are residual bodies both in the oöcysts and the sporocysts. Goussia kuehae n. sp. differs from all known species of Goussia in the large size of the oöcysts and in having two types of oöcyst residuum.
A new digenean, Allassogonoporus callosciuri n. sp. from the plantain squirrel Callosciurus notatus from the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Borneo, is described. The new species differs from: A. amphoraeformis by the size of the ventral sucker and the position of the vitellarium and uterus; and from A. marginalis by the smaller oral sucker, the position of the testes and vitellarium; from A. vespertilionis by the position of the vitellarium, testes and ovary; from A. asymmetrica by the position of the testes and uterus. Gilford's (1955) and Dubois' (1963) opinions on the synonymy of Allassogonoporus and Myotitrema is supported. No representatives of the family Allassogonoporidae have been reported previously from sciurids or South-East Asia.