Redescription of Pseudogilquinia pillersi (Southwell, 1929) (Cestoda, Trypanorhyncha) from serranid and lethrinid fishes from New Caledonia and Australia

Abstract

AbstractPseudogilquinia pillersi (Southwell, 1929), a poorly known species of trypanorhynch, is redescribed from plerocerci collected from Epinephelus coioides (Hamilton, 1922), Epinephelus malabaricus (Bloch et Schneider, 1801) (Serranidae) and Plectropomus laevis (Lacépède, 1801) (Serranidae) off New Caledonia. These were compared with specimens from Lethrinus atkinsoni Seale, 1910 and Lethrinus miniatus (Forster, 1801) (Lethrinidae) off the north-east coast of Australia as well as syntypes from Protonibea diacantha (Lacépède, 1802) from Sri Lanka. Although size differences were found in parts of the scolex as well as in the sizes of the tentacular hooks, the hook arrangements were identical in all specimens. The differences observed were attributed provisionally to intra-specific variation across a wide geographic and host range.