A new nematode species, Philometra terapontis n. sp. (Philometridae), is described from male and female specimens found in the ovary of the jarbua terapon Terapon jarbua (Forsskål) (Terapontidae, Perciformes) from the Bay of Bengal off the eastern coast of India. Based on light and scanning electron microscopical examination, the new species differs from most other gonad-infecting Philometra spp. in the length of the spicules (105-114 μm), a gubernaculum with dorsal, lamella-like structures and a distinct protuberance on its distal end, and a U-shaped, dorsally uninterrupted caudal mound in the male. From a few congeneric, gonad-infecting species with unknown males, it can be distinguished by morphological and biometrical features found in gravid females (i.e. length of body, length of first-stage larvae or oesophagus, and caudal structure), by the host type (fish family) and by the geographical distribution. Philometra terapontis is the first philometrid species reported from a fish belonging to the family Terapontidae. Philometra sawara Quiazon, Yoshinaga & Ogawa, 2008 is considered a junior synonym of P. scomberomori (Yamaguti, 1935). A key to gonad-infecting species of Philometra parasitising marine and brackish-water fishes is provided.

Institute of Parasitology Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Branišovská 31 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic

See more in PubMed

Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2008 Sep;55(3):219-23 PubMed

Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2008 Jun;55(2):159-60 PubMed

Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2009 Jun;56(2):129-42 PubMed

Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2006 Mar;53(1):63-70 PubMed

Parasitol Res. 2008 Dec;104(1):55-61 PubMed

Parasitol Res. 2009 Apr;104(5):1079-85 PubMed

Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2008 Mar;55(1):29-41 PubMed

Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2011 Nov;58(4):302-10 PubMed

Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2008 Dec;55(4):277-90 PubMed

J Helminthol. 1963;37:89-130 PubMed

J Helminthol. 2010 Mar;84(1):49-54 PubMed

Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2009 Dec;56(4):317-8 PubMed

Dis Aquat Organ. 2007 Oct 31;78(1):83-6 PubMed

Parasitol Res. 2011 Jan;108(1):227-32 PubMed

Five species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Nematoda: Philometridae) newly recorded from marine fishes in Iraq, including the description of P. arabiensis sp. n. from the ovary of the shrimp scad Alepes djedaba (Carangidae)

Two gonad-infecting species of Philometra (Nematoda: Philometridae) from groupers (Serranidae) off Tunisia, with a key to Philometra species infecting serranid gonads

Additional observations on Philometra spp. (Nematoda: Philometridae) in marine fishes off Iraq, with the description of two new species

Two new gonad-infecting philometrids (Nematoda: Philometridae) from the yellowedge grouper Hyporthodus flavolimbatus (Serranidae) and the great northern tilefish Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps (Malacanthidae) in the northern Gulf of Mexico