Viviparous monogenea on grey bichir, Polypterus senegalus Cuvier in the National park Niokolo Koba (Senegal, West Africa)
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2007 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Parassitologia 49, Suppl. 2 |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Zoology |
| Keywords | Polypterus senegalus; Macrogyrodactylus; monogenea; new genus |
| Description | Three genera of viviparous monogeneans are curently known from freshwater fish in Africa, the cosmopolitan genus Gyrodactylus with seventeen african species, the endemic genus Macrogyrodactylus with eight described species and the genus Afrogyrodactylus including only one species. The fish for parasitological investigation were collected from the locality Mare Simneti and Kountadala. The worms were fixed with mixture of glycerine and ammonium-picrate (Malmberg, 1970, Arkiv för Zoologi, 2, 1-235) for morhometrical study and several specimens were preserved in absolute ethanol for molecular analyses. The analysis of the haptoral hard parts was performed using a phase contrast microscopy (Olympus BX51) and the complex of attachment sclerites was documented using a drawing attachment. The molecular analyses were performed according to the methods described in Matějusová et al. (2001, International Journal of Parasitology, 31, 738-745). Several specimens of the genus Macrogyrodactylus Malmberg, 1957 were found on grey bichir (P. senegalus) collected from Mare Simenti. This finding represents the first record of monogenean parasite of the genus Macrogyrodactylus on freshwater fish in Senegal. Three species of Macrogyrodactylus were identified, M. polypteri Malmberg, 1957, M. simentiensis n. sp. and Macrogyrodactylus sp. 1 (Přikrylová et Gelnar, submitted). The haptoral sclerites of M. simentisensis n. sp. and Macrogyrodactylus sp.1 were found as the smallest compared to others macrogyrodactylids. On the locality Mare Koutadala, a new genus of viviparous monogeneans was discovered. General anatomy of the parasite body is similar to the description of the genus Gyrodactylus. Well defined haptor is equipped by a complex of attachement sclerites,a pair of centrally positioned hamuli, simple ventral bar and sixteen marginal hooks placed along the margin of the haptor. The marginal hooks are of two types, five pairs of hooks with well defined large falcural shaped sickles and three pairs of smaller hooks. Both types of hooks have a short handle in proportion to length of the marginal hook sickles. In addition, these specimens collected from grey bichir exhibited an additional feature on their attachment apparatus, a pair of muscular adhesive disk situated on the side of hamuli. In conclusion, the presented results bring an important insight into species richness of monogenean parasites in West Africa providing data for description of new genus and new species. |
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