title: High-intensity cardiac infections of Phthinomita heinigerae n. sp. (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) in the orangelined cardinalfish, Taeniamia fucata (Cantor), off Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
abstract: We report a new species of aporocotylid trematode (Platyhelminthes: Digenea) from the heart of the orangelined cardinalfish, Taeniamia fucata (Cantor), from off Heron Island on the southern Great Barrier Reef. We used an integrated approach, analysing host distribution, morphology, and genetic data from the internal transcribed spacer 2 of the ribosomal DNA, to circumscribe Phthinomita heinigerae n. sp. This is the first species of Phthinomita Nolan & Cribb, 2006 reported from the Apogonidae; existing species and known 'types' are recorded from species of the Labridae, Mullidae, and Siganidae. The new species is distinguished from its 11 congeners in having a body 2977-3539 long and 16.5-22.4 times longer than wide, an anterior testis 6.2-8.2 times longer than wide and 8.3-13.0 times longer than the posterior testis, a posterior testis whose width is 35-56% of the body width, and an ovary positioned 11-13% of the body length from the posterior end, and is entirely anterior to the posterior margin of the anterior testis. In addition, 2-34 base differences (0.4-7.0% sequence divergence over 485 base positions) were detected among the ITS2 sequence representing P. heinigerae n. sp. and the 14 representing other Phthinomita species/molecular types. Prevalence and intensity of infection with P. heinigerae n. sp. was relatively high within the heart tissue of T. fucata, with 19 of 20 fish examined from off Heron Island infected (95%) with 7-25 adult worms (arithmetic mean 16.6). Infections by these parasites accounted for an occupation of 7-30% of the total estimated heart volume.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathogen Biology, Royal Veterinary College, University of London, North Mymms, Hatfield AL9 7TA, United Kingdom. Electronic address: mnolan@rvc.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Nolan
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0ES, United Kingdom. Electronic address: cc779@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cantacessi
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Australia. Electronic address: scott.cutmore@uqconnect.edu.au.
authors.forename: Scott C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Cutmore
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Australia. Electronic address: t.cribb@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Cribb
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, PO Box 6811, Cairns 4878, Australia; Fish Health Laboratory, Department of Fisheries Western Australia, 3 Baron-Hay Court, South Perth 6151, Australia. Electronic address: terry.miller@fish.wa.gov.au.
authors.forename: Terrence L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D001483:Base Sequence; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D006321:Heart / Q000469:parasitology*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000662:veterinary; D058507:Host Specificity; D008297:Male; D010473:Perciformes / Q000469:parasitology*; D012551:Schistosomatidae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D018509:DNA, Helminth; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer
keywords: Apogonidae; Host-switching; Internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA); Platyhelminthes; Trematoda