title: A complex of Cardicola Short, 1953 (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) species infecting the milkfish Chanos chanos Forsskål (Gonorynchiformes), with descriptions of two new species.
abstract: Two new species of Cardicola Short, 1953 are described from the milkfish, Chanos chanos Forsskål (Gonorynchiformes: Chanidae), obtained from off Lizard Island on the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and North Stradbroke Island in southeast Queensland. These are the first known blood flukes from this order of fishes. Cardicola suni n. sp. differs from all other Cardicola spp. by a combination of a large ovoid oral sucker surrounding a subterminal mouth, recurved tegumental spines up to 16 μm long, anterior caeca occupying 25.1-31.3% (28.7%) of total body length and a mostly-intercaecal ovary. Cardicola jiigurru n. sp. differs from C. suni n. sp. and all other species of Cardicola by a combination of a narrowly lanceolate body, weakly-muscularised and poorly-demarcated oral sucker, minute tegumental spines <1 µm in length, and anterior caeca occupying 15.9-22.0% (19.4%) of total body length, an almost entirely post-caecal ovary and the male genital pore terminal on a dorsolateral protuberance. A third species, closely resembling C. suni n. sp., was also discovered off Wangetti Beach, north Queensland, but is not described due to lack of material. Molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on both ITS2 and partial 28S rDNA regions, shows that these three species form a clade nested within that formed by existing species of Cardicola.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia. rqy.yong@uqconnect.edu.au.
authors.forename: Russell Q-Y
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2211-1468
authors.initials: RQ
authors.lastname: Yong
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Scott C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Cutmore
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia.|Fish Health Laboratory, Department of Fisheries Western Australia, 3 Baron-Hay Court, South Perth, WA, 6151, Australia.
authors.forename: Terrence L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Nicholas Q-X
authors.initials: NQ
authors.lastname: Wee
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Cribb
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D011793:Queensland; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity; D014200:Trematoda / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S