title: Aporocotyle michaudi n. sp. (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) from the emerald rock cod, Trematomus bernacchii (Teleostei: Perciformes) in Antarctica.
abstract: Aporocotyle michaudi n. sp. is described from the gill blood vessels of the emerald rock cod Trematomus bernacchii in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. It is distinguished from all other species of Aporocotyle by its body tegument showing single conical spines, spinous buccal capsule, and genital atrium positioned medially; all congeners described to date are characterized by clusters of tegumental spines, unspined buccal capsule and genital atrium located in the lateral part of the body. Aporocotyle michaudi n. sp. clearly differs from A. notothenia (the only other species of Aporocotyle found in a perciform fish) in its shape and arrangement of tegumental spines, buccal capsule features, location of genital atrium, body size, ratio of esophagus/body length, anterior caeca/posterior caeca ratio, number of testes, cirrus sac and ovary size and shape, and host. The new species is easily distinguished from A. argentinensis (the species that most closely resembles A. michaudi) by the shape and arrangement of tegumental spines, buccal capsule features, genital atrium location, left anterior caecum longer than right, esophagus/body length ratio, number of testes, cirrus sac size and shape, host and molecular analyses. Phylogenetic analyses of partial 28S rDNA genetic data showed that sequences representing the new species form a distinct clade with all other sequences for species of Aporocotyle and appear basal within the genus. Aporocotyle michaudi n. sp. represents the only species of genus described in Antarctica.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Section of Parasitology, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Via Salute n. 2, 80055 Portici, Italy. Electronic address: marisant@libero.it.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Section of Parasitology, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Via Salute n. 2, 80055 Portici, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cipriani
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Plamen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pankov
authors.affiliation: Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1, 2EE, UK.
authors.forename: Scott P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Lawton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D001483:Base Sequence; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010473:Perciformes / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D014200:Trematoda / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal
keywords: 28S rDNA; Blood fluke; Fish parasite; Molecular phylogeny; New species; Ross Sea