The male and subgravid female of Philometra serranellicabrillae Janiszewska, 1949 (Philometridae) collected from the gonads of Serranus cabrilla (Linnaeus) (Serranidae) off Tunisia are described for the first time based on light and scanning electron microscopical studies. The male of this nematode can be separated from other congeneric gonad-infecting nominal species in the structure and shape of the gubernaculum (e.g. absence of a dorsal protuberance and a median smooth field). The shape of the male posterior region is unique in that it bears a pair of big circular papillae posterior to the cloacal opening, which is also present in other Philometra spp. from serranids, i.e. P. indica Moravec & Manoharan, 2014, P. inexpectata Moravec, Chaabane, Justine & Neifar, 2016 and P. jordanoi (López-Neyra, 1951) Yamaguti, 1961. Moreover, P. serranellicabrillae differs from its congeners in other fish families from the Mediterranean Sea, in the length of spicules and gubernaculum.

• MeSH
• Dracunculoidea anatomy & histology   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Species Specificity MeSH
• Gonads parasitology   MeSH
• Microscopy, Electron, Scanning MeSH
• Fish Diseases parasitology   MeSH
• Bass parasitology   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Tunisia MeSH

The insufficiently known nematode species Philometra filiformis (Stossich, 1896) (Philometridae) is redescribed based on light and scanning electron microscopical (SEM) examinations of specimens collected from the ovaries of the type-host, the common pandora Pagellus erythrinus (Linnaeus) (Perciformes, Sparidae), from off the Mediterranean coast of Tunisia. The male of this species was studied with SEM for the first time, which revealed some new, taxonomically important morphological features. The male posterior end has a caudal mound consisting of two lateral parts widely separated dorsally from each other, four pairs of small adanal papillae, a pair of large but moderately developed papillae located posterior to the cloacal aperture and a pair of small phasmids. The distal end of the gubernaculum is unique among all but one gonad-infecting species of Philometra Costa, 1845 by the chevron-shaped dorsal lamellar structures forming a median longitudinal range. Philometra filiformis is for the first time reported from Tunisian coastal waters, being the seventh philometrid species so far recorded from marine fishes off Tunisia.

• MeSH
• Dracunculoidea anatomy & histology   classification   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Species Specificity MeSH
• Microscopy, Electron, Scanning * MeSH
• Ovary parasitology   MeSH
• Perciformes parasitology   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Mediterranean Sea MeSH
• Tunisia MeSH