A new species of Podocotyloides (Digenea: Opecoelidae) from the grey conger eel, Conger esculentus, in the Caribbean Sea.

Abstract

Podocotyloides brevis n. sp. (Digenea: Opecoelidae) is described from Conger esculentus Poey, 1861, from the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. It can be separated from the other 13 accepted species in the genus by having a shorter cirrus sac, both in length and relative length. Podocotyloides brevis, with a cirrus sac length less than 10% of the body length, most closely resembles Podocotyloides dorabus Lokhande, 1990, which has a cirrus sac that is approximately 16% of the body length. It can be further differentiated from P. dorabus by having ovarian and testicular lengths greater than the oral sucker length. This is the first report of a member of this genus from the Caribbean Sea and from a host species collected as deep as 200 m. A key to the recognized members of Podocotyloides Yamaguti, 1934, is also presented.