Acta Parasitologica Homepage
Tables of Contents
Volume 44 Tables of Contents

Acta Parasitologica, Vol.44, No. 4, 1999, 230-240
Zdzitowiecki Krzysztof - Digeneans of the families Opecoelidae and Lepocreadiidae, parasites of Lepidonotothen macrophthalma from the North Scotia Ridge, and remarks on the discrimination of Neolepidapedon magnatestis and N. trematomi.

W. Stefanski Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland
ABSTRACT

Twenty fishes Lepidonotothen macrophthalma (Norman) caught at the North Scotia Ridge were examined. They harboured four digenean species - the opecoelids, Macvicaria antarctica (Kovalyova et Gaevskaya, 1974) and M. skorai sp. n., the lepocreadiid, Neolepidapedon magnatestis (Gaevskaya et Kovalyova, 1976), and the unnamed hemiurid (presently not described). The total prevalence of Digenea (four species) was 55%, intensity range 2-21 and relative density 3.50. M. skorai sp. n., which occurs sympatrically with M. antarctica, is described. M. skorai sp. n. is characterised by the cirrus sac reaching posterior to the ventral sucker, sucker ratio based on mean diameter 1:1.50-1.92 (mean 1.74), oblique arrangement of testes, egg length 0.043-0.055 mm (usually 0.045-0.051 mm) and testes usually obscured dorsally by vitelline follicles. This species is compared with all Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Macvicaria occurring in Perciformes. N. magnatestis is redescribed from the nototheniids L. macrophthalma and L. squamifrons (Gunther) and compared with N. trematomi Prudhoe et Bray, 1973. Specimens previously reported by Zdzitowiecki (1990b) as N. magnatestis collected from Trematomus hansoni and T. bernacchii in the South Shetland Islands area and from Dissostichus eleginoides collected off the Shag Rocks (South Georgia area) are considered N. trematomi.


KEY WORDS: Fish digeneans, Lepidonotothen macrophthalma, Macvicaria, morphology, Neolepidapedon, North Scotia Ridge
Page compiled by Aleksander H.Kedra. Last modification: 15-12-1999