Reconsideration of the species assigned to Faustula Poche, 1926 (Digenea: Microphalloidea) with the proposal of five new genera in the Faustulidae Poche, 1926

Abstract

The assignment of species to Faustula Poche, 1926 (Faustulidae Poche, 1926) is reconsidered with the proposal of Gangafaustula n. gen. to accommodate Gangafaustula makundai (Agarwal & Verma, 1981) n. comb.; Gobifaustula n. gen. to accommodate Gobifaustula qikouensis (Qui & Li, 1995) n. comb.; Lingulitrema n. gen. to accommodate Lingulitrema hilsai (Kumar & Agarwal, 1984) n. comb.; Schellitrema n. gen. to accommodate Schellitrema gasterostei (Schell, 1973) n. comb. and Varanasifaustula n. gen. to accommodate Varanasifaustula indica (Agarwal & Verma, 1981) n. comb. Faustula hilsai Kumar & Agarwal, 1984 is determined to be a species distinct from Faustula hilsai Rizvi, 1971 and F. hilsai Rizvi, 1971 is synonymized with Faustula basiri Hafeezullah & Siddiqi, 1970. Faustula rahemii Al-Daraji, 2004 also is synonymized with F. basiri. Faustula pyriformis Kumar & Agarwal, 1984 is transferred to Pronoprymna Poche, 1926 as Pronoprymna pyriformis (Kumar & Agarwal, 1984) n. comb. Faustula sayori (Yamaguti, 1942) Yamaguti, 1958, now synonymized with Pronoprymna petrowi (Layman, 1930) Bray & Gibson, 1980, is renamed Pronoprymna sayori (Yamaguti, 1942) n. comb. based on the presence of an entire (smooth) ovary in P. petrowi (Syn. Monorcheides petrowi Layman, 1930) as originally described, and Faustula varanasiensis (Agarwal & Kumar, 1977) is transferred to Bacciger Nicoll, 1914 as Bacciger varanasiensis (Agarwal & Kumar, 1977) n. comb. We currently propose the following 5 species be retained in Faustula: F. basiri; Faustula brevichrus (Srivastava, 1935) Yamaguti, 1958; Faustula clupeae (Srivastava, 1935) Yamaguti, 1958; Faustula gangetica (Srivastava, 1935) Yamaguti, 1958 and Faustula keksooni (MacCallum, 1918) Poche, 1926. A revised key to the species of Faustula and a key to the genera within the Faustulidae are provided.