Clitellocephalus americanus n. gen., n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eugregarinida: Gregarinidae) from Cratacanthus dubius (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Harpalinae) in the Nebraska sandhills and Clitellocephalus ophoni n. comb. (Apicomplexa: Eugregarinida: Gregarinidae) from Ophonus pubescens (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Harpalinae) in Sète,France

Clitellocephalus americanus n. gen., n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eugregarinida: Gregarinidae) is described from Cratacanthus dubius (Coleoptera: Carabidae) collected from Keith County in the Sandhills of western Nebraska. Clitellocephalus ophoni n. comb. is redescribed using original type material from Ophonus pubescens (Coleoptera: Carabidae) collected in Sète, France. Clitellocephalus n. gen. is distinguished by a deltoid epimerite with an internal anterior obconoid structure and a basal toroidal vacuole, which is retained in gamonts. Protomerites are broadly elliptical to cylindrical; deutomerites are narrowly obovate. Association is precocious, caudofrontal, and biassociative, with the satellite protomerite engulfing the posterior end of the primite deutomerite to form an interlock. Gametocysts are spherical. Sporoducts are present but reduced and irregular in number. Oocysts are dolioform, dehiscing in chains. The species described herein are differentiated by their overall size and relative proportion of cellular structures.     

Bakkeius moragai n. gen. et n. sp. and Pojmanskia riosae n. gen. et n. sp. (Trematoda: Digenea: Brachylaimoidea) in birds from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica

We describe 2 new species of leucochloridiid-like brachylaimoid digeneans parasitizing a variety of birds in the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, each of which we assign to a new genus. According to Pojmanska's (Pojmanska, T. 2002a. Superfamily Brachylaimoidea Joyeux & Foley, 1930. In Keys to the Trematoda, D. I. Gibson, A. Jones, and R. A. Bray [eds.]. CAB International and The Natural History Museum, London, U.K., p. 31-36.) key for the Brachylaimoidea, we are unable to place either species in any family. One species most closely resembles members of Leucochloridium by having well-developed suckers, lacking an esophagus, and having cecal shoulders, gonads at the posterior end, and the genital pore at posterior end of body but differs by having symmetrical testes, a posttesticular ovary, and a terminal genital pore; thus, we propose the genus Bakkeius for it. The second new genus resembles members of Michajlovia by having ventral genital pores but differs by having extracecal uterine loops in the forebody, a cirrus sac containing the pars prostatica and seminal vesicle, and gland cells surrounding the genital pore; thus, we propose Pojmanskia for it. These new genera must currently be treated as incertae sedis according to Pojmanska (op. cit.); however, we feel that future phylogenetic analyses will require emendation of the family diagnosis for Leucochloridiidae to include those taxa with terminal and ventral genital pores and with preovarian testes.     

Heterodera longicolla,n. sp. (Nematoda: Heteroderidae) from Buffalo-grass (Buchlo? dactyloides) in Kansas

Heterodera longicolla n. sp., a member of the H. goettingiana group, is described and illustrated from roots of buffalo-grass, Buchloë dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm., in Manhattan, Kansas. This new abullate species, having second-stage larvae with only three lines in the lateral field, is most closely related to H. cyperi Golden, Rau & Cobb, 1962, but differs particularly in having a shorter stylet in larvae, males and females; in possessing only three annules on the head of larvae and males; in having a shorter tail in larvae; and by the presence on cysts of a small anus without a circum-anal pattern.     

Two New Species of Pristionchus (Rhabditida: Diplogastridae): P. fissidentatus n. sp. from Nepal and La Réunion Island and P. elegans n. sp. from Japan

Pristionchus fissidentatus n. sp., isolated from soil in Nepal, and P. elegans n. sp., isolated from Phelotrupes auratus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Japan, are described. The two new species are recognized as basal within the genus and thus occupy an important position for macroevolutionary studies that center on the model P. pacificus. Pristionchus fissidentatus n. sp. is distinguished by its unique stegostomatal morphology: in the stenostomatous form, the right subventral ridge has three prominent cusps and the left subventral sector has, in addition to a plate with two cusps, a prominent denticle slightly left of ventral; in the eurystomatous form, the right subventral stegostomatal sector shows both a tooth and a ridge with several cusps. Diagnostic of P. elegans n. sp. is the structure of the stenostomatous cheilostom, which bulges medially and is underlain by a large vacuolated ring. No eurystomatous form has been observed in P. elegans n. sp. Reproductive modes of P. fissidentatus n. sp. and P. elegans n. sp. are hermaphroditic and gonochoristic, respectively. The additional isolation of P. fissidentatus n. sp. from soil and two species of scarab beetle on La Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean suggests a broad geographic range for this species.     

Tinamutrema canoae n. gen. et n. sp. (Trematoda: Digenea: Strigeiformes: Brachylaimidae) in Crypturellus cinnamomeus (Aves, Passeriformes, Tinamidae) from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica

We propose Tinamutrema as a new genus for Brachylaima centrodes (Braun, 1901) Dollfus, 1935 and for T. canoae, as a new species inhabiting tinamus in the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Specimens from Costa Rica resemble B. centrodes in having an elongate body, pretesticular genital pore and terminal genitalia, intercecal uterine loops occupying all available space between the anterior testis and the intestinal bifurcation, an oral sucker width:pharynx width ratio of approximately 1:0.55, an oral sucker:ventral sucker width ratio of approximately 1:1, and vitelline follicles extending into the forebody closer to the pharynx than to the anterior margin of the ventral sucker and by living in the cloaca. They differ from B. centrodes in having vitelline follicles that do not extend as far anteriorly as those in B. centrodes, which extend anteriorly to the level of the anteriormost extent of the cecal "shoulders," dense tegumental spination as opposed to sparse or no spination, relatively smaller cirrus with fewer spines, longer and more sinous pars prostatica, and forebody averaging 36% of total body length (TBL) as opposed to 42% TBL. Both species differ from other members of the Brachylaimidae in possessing a spinose cirrus and a cirrus sac containing both the cirrus and the pars prostatica. Preliminary phylogenetic assessment suggests that these traits are plesiomorphic, and thus the species are basal to the rest of the Brachylaimidae, whose diagnosis we emend accordingly.     

Bartolius pierrei n. g., n. sp. (Digenea: Gymnophallidae) from the Península Valdés, Argentina

Bartolius pierrei n. g., n. sp. (Digenea: Gymnophallidae) is described from metacercariae and naturally and cultivated obtained adults from southern Argentina. The second intermediate host is Darina solenoides (King) (Bivalvia: Mactridae) and the definitive host is Larus dominicanus Lichtenstein (Aves: Laridae). The diagnostic characters are as follows: Body small, oval. Oral sucker without lateral projections, twice size of ventral sucker (except in young metacercariae). Caeca short (in adults), without dorsal diverticula. Ventral sucker in posterior third of body. Ventral pit absent. Seminal vesicle bipartite. Ovary post-testicular. Vitelline glands paired, compact, close to ventral sucker. Uterus in fore- and hindbody. Genital atrium tubular. Genital pore inconspicuous, close to anterior margin of ventral sucker. Excretory vesicle Y-shaped with very short stem. Excretory formula: 2[(2+2)+(2+2)]=16. Bartolius is distinguished from other genera of the Gymnophallidae by the post-testicular position of the ovary.     

Lecane donyanaensis n. sp. (Rotifera: Monogononta,Lecanidae) from the Doñana National Park (Spain)

A hitherto unknown rotifer species was found in ponds of Doñana National Park (Spain) during winter 1990, 1991 and 1992. It belongs to the family Lecanidae (Monogononta), is related to Lecane ungulata and superficially resembles Lecane leontina.Two specimens of this species hatched after two days incubation of pond sediments in the laboratory.     

Neohaematotrephus arayae n. sp. (Digenea: Echinostomiformes: Cyclocoelidae) in Jacana spinosa (Aves: Charadriiformes: Jacanidae) from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Specimens of a species of cyclocoelid digenean inhabiting Jacana spinosa from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, most closely resemble Haematotrephus facioi (Brenes and Arroyo, 1962) Yamaguti, 1971, in the same host from Aranjuez, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica, in having confluent vitelline follicles posteriorly, diagnostic of Neohaematotrophus, and in pharynx length, ovary width, and cirrus sac on the sinistral side. The new species is also highly similar in appearance to H. gendrei Dubois, 1959, also inhabiting a jacanid (from West Africa), which has vitelline follicles confluent posteriorly, and extending anteriorly to the intestinal bifurcation and genital pore opening immediately posterior to the anterior margin of the pharynx. Like H. facioi, H. gendrei has a relatively much shorter and broader cirrus sac than does the new species. Examination of the holotype and paratype of H. facioi confirmed that the specimens from Guanacaste differ in having a longer body, a larger ovary and eggs, and smaller testes. They also have the ovary on the sinistral rather than the dextral side of the body, genital pore anterior to the pharynx rather than at or posterior to the level of the posterior margin of the pharynx, longer and thinner cirrus sac, and eggs without eyespotted miracidia. Half the eggs in both specimens of H. facioi have well-developed eyespotted miracidia, whereas the typical condition for cyclocoelids is for virtually all eggs to exhibit eyespotted miracidia. Both H. facioi and H. gendrei are transferred to Neohaematotrophus, along with the new species.     

Clestobothrium neglectum (Lönnberg, 1893) n. comb. (Cestoda: Bothriocephalidae) from the tadpole fish Raniceps raninus (L.) (Gadidae) from Sweden

Clestobothrium neglectum (Lönnberg, 1893) n. comb. is redescribed from specimens previously deposited in The Natural History Museum, London, UK by Dr David I. Gibson obtained from the intestine of the tadpole fish Raniceps raninus (Gadidae) collected from off the western coast of Sweden, near Kristineberg. C. neglectum resembles C. crassiceps (Rudolphi, 1819), the type- and only species currently recognised in the genus, but differs in having fine spiniform-like structures that are likely microtriches covering the posterior fourth of the scolex and all proglottids, a highly folded tegument forming numerous longitudinal ridges on both the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the proglottids giving them a scalloped appearance, a somewhat smaller egg (68 × 35 vs 75 × 40 μm), a U-shaped rather than H-shaped ovary and more testes (70–85 vs 40–50 per proglottid). C. neglectum is also compared to two species with similar scoleces that were previously assigned to Clestobothrium, Bothriocephalus acheilognathi Yamaguti, 1934 and B. kivuensis Baer &; Fain, 1958 (considered to be synonymous with B. acheilognathi by Pool, 1987). This is the first report of a species of Clestobothrium Lühe, 1899 (Bothriocephalidae) from a gadid fish.     

Neotropical Monogenoidea. 32. Cacatuocotyle paranaensis n. g., n. sp. (Dactylogyridae,Ancyrocephalinae) from Characidium spp. (Teleostei,Characidae) from the State of Paraná, Brazil

Cacatuocotyle paranaensis n. sp. (Dactylogyridae, Ancyrocephalinae) is described from the gills of the characid fishes Characidium lanei Travassos and C. pterostictum Gomes collected from two streams on the coast of the State of Paraná, Brazil. Cacatuocotyle n. g. is proposed for species possessing a single cephalic lobe (terminal), one pair of head organs, a convex haptor with thickened muscular anterior margins, one anchor-bar complex (ventral), seven pairs of ventral hooks (one pair associated with the anchor shafts; one central pair anterior to the bar; five submarginal bilateral pairs) and a sinistral vaginal aperture.     

Poecilorhynchus perplexus n. g., n. sp. (Trypanorhyncha: Eutetrarhynchidae) from the brownbanded bambooshark, Chiloscyllium punctatum Müller & Henle, from Australia

A new genus of trypanorhynch cestodes is described from the brownbanded bambooshark, Chiloscyllium punctatum Müller & Henle (Hemiscylliidae) from off Nickol Bay, Western Australia. Poecilorhynchus perplexus n. g., n. sp. is placed in the Eutetrarhynchidae Guiart, 1927 because it is characterised by an elongate, acraspedote scolex with two oval bothria, the absence of bothrial pits, elongate bulbs, the presence of gland-cells within the bulbs and prebulbar organs, retractor muscles inserting at the base of each bulb and an acraspedote strobila. It can be distinguished from all other genera in this family by its possession of a poeciloacanthous typical armature, with a chainette composed of two longitudinal files of uncinate hooks on the external tentacular surface.     

Urotrema shirleyae n. sp. (Trematoda: Digenea: Urotrematidae) in Norops oxylophus and N. cupreus (Squamata: Iguania: Polychrotidae) from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica

A new species of Urotrema inhabits Norops oxylophus and Norops cupreus from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The new species is most similar to Urotrema scabridum but differs by having a relatively longer esophagus, at least 10% of the total body length versus 4-8% in U. scabridum; an oral sucker width: ventral sucker width ratio less than 1 : 1 (averaging 1 : 0.76) versus 1 : 1 or greater; an oral sucker width : pharyngeal width ratio less than 1 : 0.5 (averaging 1 : 0.42) versus greater than 1 :0.5; and by having many transversely oriented posttesticular uterine loops versus a few vertically oriented posttesticular uterine loops.     

Triloculotrema japanicae n. g., n. sp. (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) from the olfactory sacs of the Japanese topeshark Hemitriakis japanica (Müller & Henle, 1839) (Carcharhiniformes: Triakidae)

Triloculotrema japanicae n. g., n. sp. (Monogenea: Monocotylidae: Merizocotylinae) is described. The parasite inhabits the olfactory sacs of the Japanese topeshark Hemitriakis japanica (Carcharhiniformes: Triakidae), and possesses a distinctive haptor with only three loculi. Some comments are made on the evolution of monocotylid monogeneans.     

Description of the oöcysts of Eimeria beccari n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from Varanus prasinus beccari (Reptilia: Varanidae)

Eimeria beccari n. sp. is described from the faecal contents of Varanus prasinus beccari (Reptilia: Varanidae), originally from the Aru Islands northwest of New Guinea. Oöcysts are cylindroid, 33.7 × 19.1 (29–36 × 18–21) µm, often with one end narrowing; shape index (length/width) 1.76 (1.6–1.9). A micropyle and oöcyst residuum are absent but a polar granule is present in most oöcysts. Sporocysts are ellipsoid, 12.0 × 7.7 (11–13.5 × 7–8) µm; shape index 1.56 (1.5–1.7). Stieda and substieda bodies are absent. Sporozoites are elongate, 10.4 × 2.8 (9–12 × 2.5–3) µm, and contain a posterior refractile body.     

Parapharyngodon duniae n. sp. (Nematoda: Pharyngodonidae) in Phrynohyas venulosa (Anura: Hylidae) from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Parapharyngodon duniae n. sp. (Nematoda: Pharyngodonidae) in the large intestine of the veined tree frog, Phrynohyas venulosa, from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica is described and illustrated. Parapharyngodon duniae n. sp. represents the 34th species assigned to the genus, the 10th species from the Neotropical Realm, and only the third species to parasitize anurans. It is distinguished from the other Neotropical species by having postbulbar ovaries and a prebulbar excretory pore.     

Paracreptotrema blancoi n. gen., n. sp. (Digenea: Plagiorchiformes: Allocreadiidae) in the Olomina, Priapichthys annectens (Osteichthyes: poeciliidae), from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica

A new species of allocreadiid digenean is described from Priapichthys annectens (Regan) (Osteichthyes: Poeciliidae) in the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. A new genus, Paracreptotrema, is proposed to accommodate this species as well as Fellodistomum mendezi Songandares-Bernal, 1955, which was previously described from another poeciliid, Brachyrhaphis episcopi, in Panama. Paracreptotrema differs from all other nominal genera of Allocreadiidae by a combination of its symmetrical testes, restricted vitellaria, and the lack of oral lappets (muscular 'papillae') or other such appendages. Paracreptotrema blancoi n. sp. resembles Creptotrema creptotrema Travassos, Artigas and Pereira, 1928, but differs in lacking ventral oral lappets and in having vitellaria extending posteriorly only to the level of the testes. It can be distinguished from P. mendezi n. comb. in having a relatively larger and more posteriorly placed acetabulum, vitellaria that are more restricted anteriorly, smaller testes, and a uterus that does not extend to the posterior end of the body. The genus seems to be restricted to poeciliids in Central America.     

Apodopsyllus gabesensis n. sp.: a new species of Paramesochridae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from the Gulf of Gabès (south-eastern Tunisia)

Several specimens belonging to a new species of Apodopsyllus were collected during a study on the diversity of meiobenthic communities in the Gulf of Gabès, a Mediterranean shallow-water bay at the south-eastern coast of Tunisia in July 2005. The new species Apodopsyllus gabesensis n. sp. shares the characteristics of the genus such as the lack of endopods from P2 to P4 and the soft and slightly cuticularized body. Apodopsyllus gabesensis n. sp. belongs to the few known species of Apodopsyllus that are described to have comparably distinct patterns of dorsal and lateral cuticular plates and pores. Besides a typical combination of characters that clearly distinguishes the new species from its congeners, the new species shows the following unique single characters: female P5 with a hitherto unknown combination of shape of the exopodal part and shape and setation of the baseoendopodal lobe with two small stout spines; male P6 with a particular shape, and a distinct armature of the exopodal spines in P2–P4 in the male that are pinnate with very short spinules contrary to the female where spines are smooth. The genus Apodopsyllus contains 26 species with the inclusion of the new species.     

The enigmatic Alpine opilionid Saccarella schilleri gen. n., sp. n. (Arachnida: Nemastomatidae)—isolated systematic placement inferred from comparative genital morphology

In Opiliones, male genital morphology plays a key role in systematics and understanding the evolution of the group because functional modifications often outline higher taxonomic levels. In Nemastomatidae, different lateral stabilizing structures on the penial truncus cane developed independently. These wing-like protuberances serve as anchor points for two muscular tendons and are interpreted traditionally as generic characters. A newly discovered species from Monte Saccarello in the Ligurian Alps of North-western Italy is unique in providing anchor points as stabilizing parts of the distal truncus cane below the glans by short and narrow lateral folds. To place this unusual species within the Nemastomatidae one must re-evaluate the usefulness of male genital morphological and other characters used in the systematics of the family. The resulting phylogenetic framework is supplemented with available molecular genetic data. Based on both datasets, the creation of a new genus seems justified. Saccarella schilleri gen. n. sp. n. is subsequently described and further defined. The endemism and biogeography of the harvestmen fauna in the South-western Alps are discussed with respect to this enigmatic genus.