Whittingtonocotyle jeju n. sp.

(Figs. 10–18)

Type host. Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus.

Site. Gills

Type locality. Guamá River, municipality of Irituia, Pará State, Brazil (01°51’59.8” S, 47°24’17.2”W) collected in July 2014.

Other records. Caeté River, municipality of Augusto Corrêa, Pará State, Brazil (1°3’58.21” S 46°40’3.65”W) collected in October 2013.

Prevalence. 66% of 3 hosts examined.

Mean intensity. 9 parasites per infected host.

Specimens deposited. Holotype, CHIOC 38014a; 6 paratypes, CHIOC 38014b–e, INPA 659, MPEG 00042; 7 vouchers, CHIOC 38015a–d, INPA 660, MPEG 00043.

Etymology. The specific name is derived from the local name of the host.

Comparative measurements. Table 2.

Description (based on 7 specimens; 5 mounted in Gomori’s trichrome, 2 mounted in Hoyer’ medium): Body fusiform. Cephalic margin tapered; cephalic lobes inconspicuous; 4–5 pairs of head organs with rod-shaped secretion; cephalic glands lateral or postero-lateral to pharynx. Eyes 4, posterior pair larger and slightly farther apart than anterior pair; accessory granules absent in the cephalic area. Pharynx muscular, ovate. Male copulatory organ, with approximately 19 rings, base with sclerotized cap (Fig. 11). Accessory piece, a variable sheath, enclosing some distal rings of MCO. Testis subspherical, vas deferens conspicuous; seminal vesicle sigmoid; prostatic reservoir large, bacilliform separated into three zones with two terminal areas densely stained. Germarium subovate; oviduct, ootype, Mehlis’ glands, uterus not observed. Vagina comprising vaginal vestibule with soft tissue, vaginal canal heavily sclerotized, sigmoid. Seminal receptacle pyriform. Peduncle short; pair of haptor glands starting at level of peduncle, convolute at distal portion, ending at level of the anchor/bar complexes (Fig. 10). Haptor subtrapezoidal. Anchors similar, with broad base, poorly developed roots, short shaft. Ventral anchor (Fig. 16) with superficial root depressed covered by sclerotized cap; deep root short covered by sclerotized cap on outer proximal portion; evenly curved shaft, point. Dorsal anchor (Fig. 15) with superficial root broad covered by sclerotized cap; deep root short covered by sclerotized cap; evenly curved shaft, point. Ventral bar (Fig. 17), curved with tapered ends. Dorsal bar (Fig. 18), straight, with short anteromedial process, 1/3 dorsal bar length. Hooks similar (Figs. 13–14); each with delicate point and shaft, slightly erect thumb, elongate straight shank, short point; FH loop not observed; hook pair 1 smaller than hook pairs 2–7.

Remarks. This species differs from Whittingtonocotyle caetei n. sp. by the morphology of the anchors, and by possessing a male copulatory organ comprising a coil of about 19 rings (29 rings in W. caetei n. sp.), a prostatic reservoir separated into three zones with two terminal areas densely stained (two zones with one terminal areas densely stained in W. caetei n. sp.), vaginal canal sigmoid (coiled in W. caetei n. sp.), and a dorsal bar with short anteromedial process (elongate in W. caetei n. sp.).