Gill monogeneans from the brownspotted grouper
Epinephelus chlorostigma (Val.) collected in deep water off the coral barrier reef of New Caledonia, South Pacific, comprise seven species. These
include the ancyrocephalid
Haliotrema sp., the capsalid
Allobenedenia cf.
epinepheli Yamaguti, 1968, and five diplectanids, namely
Pseudorhabdosynochus epinepheli (Yamaguti, 1938), reported in a previous paper,
P. cyanopodus Sigura & Justine, 2008 and
P. podocyanus Sigura & Justine, 2008, two species originally described from
E. cyanopodus Richardson,
P. stigmosus n. sp.,
P. exoticoides n. sp. and
Diplectanum femineum n. sp.
P. stigmosus is characterised by a sclerotised vagina with a straight primary canal, large ovoid primary chamber and spherical secondary
chamber.
P. exoticoides is a highly aberrant species, with a thick-walled male quadriloculate organ and a discoid sclerotised vagina with an exceptional
structure. Interestingly,
P. exoticoides resembles
P. exoticus Sigura & Justine, 2008, a species from
E. cyanopodus, and
P. stigmosus resembles
P. cyanopodus and
P. podocyanus, also both from
E. cyanopodus, suggesting close relationships between the diplectanid faunae of these two fish species.
D. femineum belongs to a group of diplectanids, provisionally classified as ‘
Diplectanum’ Diesing, 1858, which all share a small funnel-shaped male copulatory organ. In contrast to other members of this group which
have no sclerotised vagina,
D. femineum has a sclerotised vagina with the same organisation as those of species of
Pseudorhabdosynochus Yamaguti, 1958. This suggests that the species of ‘
Diplectanum’ from groupers are closer to
Pseudorhabdosynochus than suggested by the structure of the male organs.
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