title: A digenean parasite in a mudskipper: Opegaster ouemoensis sp. n. (Digenea: Opecoelidae) in Periophthalmus argentilineatus Valenciennes (Perciformes: Gobiidae) in the mangroves of New Caledonia.
abstract: Opegaster ouemoensis sp. n. is described from Periophthalmus argentilineatus Valenciennes (Gobiidae). Distinctive features included the weak or undetectable papillae of the ventral sucker and the small, but distinct cirrus-sac. The new species is compared with 25 marine species of Opegaster for which a table of measurements and ratios is presented. The new combination Opegaster queenslandicus (Aken'Ova, 2007) (originally in Opecoelus) is formed. Fifteen mudskippers were intensively examined for parasites; larval anisakid nematodes and acanthocephalans were found, but no monogeneans, cestodes, copepods, isopods, hirudineans or adult nematodes. A brief summary of the helminth parasites of mudskippers is included.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK. rab@nhm.ac.uk
authors.forename: Rodney A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bray
authors.forename: Jean-Lou
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Justine
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D009510:New Caledonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D010473:Perciformes; D013045:Species Specificity; D014200:Trematoda / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*