Abstract
Potamotrygonocestus Brooks & Thorson, 1976 is currently represented by six recognised species of tetraphyllidean cestodes inhabiting Neotropical freshwater stingrays. Potamotrygonid stingrays examined to date have included only a single specimen of Plesiotrygon iwamae. Only one species of tetraphyllidean, Potamotrygonocestus chaoi Marques, Brooks & Araujo, 2003, has been described from this host, and this description was based on limited material. New efforts to document the diversity in this host species resulted in the collection of eight additional specimens of P. iwamae, one of these from the upper Rio Solimões, at São Paulo de Olivença Amazonas during September, 2003, and seven from the Baía do Marajó, Pará, during November, 2003. The specimen from the upper Solimões was found to be infected with P. chaoi. Voucher material from this stingray was used for the redescription of this cestode, which is characterized by strobila 8.78–22.83 mm long and a great number of proglottides, 58–93; the new material provided strobilar length and proglottis counts for complete worms. Potamotrygonocestus marajoara n. sp. is the second species of this genus reported from Plesiotrygon iwamae, although it appears to be restricted to the lower Amazon. This new species resembles P. chaoi in possessing filitriches and blade-like spinitriches on the scolex, cephalic peduncle and cirrus, but differs from other species of the genus in the number of testes, which is 44 on average per proglottis, and by having apical sucker measuring 95–175 μm in length. Additional data on the distribution and morphology of the microtriches and a detailed description of the female reproductive system are also provided in this study.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Eduardo Tadeu de Matos and Lara M. Guimarães for their assistance with SEM and to Ênio Mattos for help with SEM and histological work. The authors are thankful for partial support from the IBAMA - PNUD BRA/00/008/ strategic study “Bases Científicas para a conservação da Várzea: identificação e caracterização de regiões biogeográficas (PROVARZEA/MPEG/FADESP)”, and in particular to Dr Ana Luisa K. M. Albernaz. We would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the fishermen from Colares, Pará, Brazil. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments. This work was financially supported by FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) through research grant No. 03/01816-2 to F. Marques and undergraduate research fellowship No. 04/03955-2 to N. Luchetti.
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Luchetti, N.M., Marques, F.P.L. & Charvet-Almeida, P. A new species of Potamotrygonocestus Brooks & Thorson, 1976 (Eucestoda: Tetraphyllidea) from Plesiotrygon iwamae Rosa, Castello & Thorson (Mylliobatoidea: Potamotrygonidae) and a redescription of Potamotrygonocestus chaoi Marques, Brooks & Araujo, 2003. Syst Parasitol 70, 131–145 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-008-9135-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-008-9135-9