Folia Parasitologica 55[1] 29-41 (2008) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2008.005

Taxonomical study into two new species of Philometra (Nematoda: Philometridae) previously identified as Philometra lateolabracis (Yamaguti, 1935)

Karl Marx A. Quiazon^1,2, Tomoyoshi Yoshinaga¹, Kazuo Ogawa¹

¹ Department of Aquatic Biosciences, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1-1-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan

² Freshwater Aquaculture Center and College of Fisheries, Central Luzon State University, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines 3120

Males of the nematode Philometra lateolabracis (Yamaguti, 1935), the type species of the genus Philometra Costa, 1845, were discovered for the first time in gonads of its type host, the Japanese seaperch, Lateolabrax japonicus (Cuvier). Morphological comparisons carried out between the collected male and female P. lateolabracis with the male and female philometrid nematodes previously reported as P. lateolabracis infecting chicken grunt, Parapristipoma trilineatum (Thunberg), and red sea bream, Pagrus major (Temminck et Schlegel), revealed that the latter represent two new species, Philometra isaki sp. n. and Philometra madai sp. n., respectively. Molecular comparison of ITS2 rDNA between P. lateolabracis and P. madai supported the morphological conclusion that the two nematodes obtained from different fish species should be assigned to different species.

Keywords: Philometra lateolabracis, Philometra madai, Philometra isaki, Nematoda, philometrids, ITS2 rDNA, morphology, molecular study

Received: April 16, 2007; Accepted: November 19, 2007; Published: March 1, 2008  Show citation