Acta Parasitologica, Vol. 51, No. 1, 2006, 59-64 Yuriy Kvach - A morphological study of Acanthocephaloides propinquus (Acanthocephala, Arhythmacanthidae) parasitising gobiid
fishes (Teleostei, Gobiidae) in the northwestern Black Sea
Odessa Branch of the Institute of Biology of Southern Seas, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 37 Pushkinska Street,
65-011 Odessa, Ukraine
*Corresponding address: quach@paco.net
ABSTRACT
Morphological data for Acanthocephaloides propinquus (Arhythmacanthidae) from gobiid fishes from the northwestern Black
Sea are presented. Individuals from the Black Sea differ from the descriptions based on Mediterranean specimens in having 4-5
proboscis hooks per row in the former and 5-6 in the latter. The size of the cuticular spines is rejected as a diagnostic character
for A. propinquus because their length varies in a wide range (3.0-7.5 um). The diagnostic characters for identifying
A. propinquus include the presence of small cuticular spines, the testes located in the central part of the body and an acanthor
having a single hooklet lacking a root.
KEY WORDS: Acanthocephaloides propinquus, acanthocephalans, morphology, gobiid fish, Black Sea