title: A new species of Trichosomoididae (Nematoda) from skin of red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus (Perciformes: Lutjanidae), on the Texas-Louisiana shelf, northern Gulf of Mexico.
abstract: Eggs and larvae of Huffmanela oleumimica n. sp. infect red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus (Poey, 1860), were collected from the Texas-Louisiana Shelf (28°16'36.58″N, 93°03'51.08″W) and are herein described using light and scanning electron microscopy. Eggs in skin comprised fields (1-5 × 1-12 mm; 250 eggs/mm(2)) of variously oriented eggs deposited in dense patches or in scribble-like tracks. Eggs had clear (larvae indistinct, principally vitelline material), amber (developing larvae present) or brown (fully developed larvae present; little, or no, vitelline material) shells and measured 46-54 μm (x = 50; SD ± 1.6; n = 213) long, 23-33 (27 ± 1.4; 213) wide, 2-3 (3 ± 0.5; 213) in eggshell thickness, 18-25 (21 ± 1.1; 213) in vitelline mass width, and 36-42 (39 ± 1.1; 213) in vitelline mass length with protruding polar plugs 5-9 (7 ± 0.6; 213) long and 5-8 (6 ± 0.5; 213) wide. Fully developed larvae were 160-201 (176 ± 7.9) long and 7-8 (7 ± 0.5) wide, had transverse cuticular ridges, and were emerging from some eggs within and beneath epidermis. The new species differs from its congeners by having eggs <65 μm in total length and that have a brown eggshell when fully developed, an envelope throughout development, and irregularly-dispersed eggshell spines plus a larva >110 μm long with transverse cuticular ridges. The eggs lack a spindle-shaped envelope, polar filaments, and eggshell ridges. This is the first report of a species of Huffmanela from a snapper (Lutjanidae) or from the Gulf of Mexico. A table of egg and larval characteristics, hosts, and localities for Huffmanela spp. is provided.
authors.affiliation: Aquatic Parasitology Laboratory, Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, College of Agriculture, Auburn University, 203 Swingle Hall, Auburn, Alabama 36849, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: Candis L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Grace
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bullard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D060851:Gulf of America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009348:Nematoda / Q000145:classification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009349:Nematode Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010063:Ovum / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010473:Perciformes / Q000469:parasitology*; D012867:Skin / Q000469:parasitology; D012876:Skin Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology