Redescription of Monocotyle myliobatis (Monogenea, Monocotylidae) from the type host Myliobatis aquila (Elasmobranchii, Myliobatidae) off the Algerian coast

Abstract

AbstractMonocotyle was proposed by Taschenberg (1878) to accommodate M. myliobatis Taschenberg, 1878 from the gills of Myliobatis aquila (Linnaeus) caught at the Aquarium of the Zoological Station of Naples (Italy). There have been three descriptions of this species: the original one by Taschenberg (1878) and two which are incomplete by Perugia and Parona (1890) and Palombi (1942). Illustrations by these authors are poor and sometimes conflicting. We have rediscovered M. myliobatis on the gills of the type host Myliobatis aquila caught near Algiers, Tamentfoust (36°47′N, 3°12′E) (Algeria). We provide new illustrations of this monogenean, based on new specimens. We also redescribe the anatomy, with special attention to the male and female reproductive systems, and we provide additional data regarding the morphology, the number and arrangement of the septal sclerites of the haptor and the haptoral marginal papillae. We indicate the similarity between Monocotyle myliobatis and Monocotyle sp. Euzet et Maillard, 1967 collected from Pteromyleus bovinus, Geoffroy Saint Hillaire (Elasmobranchii, Myliobatidae) by J. Cadenat off Dakar (Senegal).