Pontobdella californiana is described parasitizing California coastal water big skates, Raja binoculata, and thornback guitarfish, Platyrhinoidis triseriata. Leeches are large, up to 70 mm in total length. The oral sucker has 2 pairs of linear eyespots and 2 pairs of lateral papillae. The caudal sucker is small and terminal, with a diameter less than maximum body width. Annulus a2 has 4 large conical tubercles dorsally and 4 smaller conical tubercles ventrally. Annuli a1 and a3 have 4 small tubercles dorsally and ventrally and 2 small tubercles laterally for a total of 10 tubercles on each of these annuli.

Allopodocotyle enkaimushi n. sp. (Opecoelidae: Plagioporinae) is described from the pyloric ceca and intestine of the short-tail grenadier, Nezumia proxima (Smith and Radcliff, 1912) (Gadiformes, Macrouridae), collected at depths of 681–1,061 m off Jōgashima Island, Sagami Bay, Japan. The new species is placed in Group C and is distinguished from its closest congener, Allopodocotyle margolisi Gibson, 1995, by possessing a terminal rather than a subterminal oral sucker; an unspecialized, inconspicuously elevated ventral sucker rather than being embedded in a well-developed ventral eminence that forms an anterior and lateral fold but with no distinct, muscular fold around the entire ventral sucker; a cirrus pouch that is entirely anterior to the ventral sucker rather than extending posteriorly to about the midlevel of it; and a sessile genital pore that is not situated on an eminence and surrounded by a muscular thickening of the body wall that appears to form a sphincter, as is the case in A. margolisi. In addition, A. enkaimushi n. sp. parasitizes a member of the grenadier genus Nezumia Jordan, 1904, from the west Pacific Ocean (Japan) rather than a species of the grenadier genus Coryphaenoides Gunnerus, 1765, from the North Atlantic Ocean. The combination of tandem testes, an entirely pre-acetabular cirrus pouch, and a pre-bifurcal (esophageal level) genital pore distinguishes A. enkaimushi n. sp. from all members of Group C recognized herein as well as from the 3 accepted species of Allopodocotyle Pritchard, 1966, already known from Japanese waters. A checklist of parasites reported from N. proxima is provided. We also furnish a key to the species in Groups A–C of Allopodocotyle, offer insights into the host familial diversity of shallow-water representatives in this genus, and hypothesize life histories for the 2 deep-water representatives in this genus.

ABSTRACT: Forty-seven dark-sided salamanders (Eurycea longicauda melanopleura) were collected from 5 counties of northern Arkansas and examined for helminth parasites. Twenty-four (51%) were infected with 1 or more helminths, including 8 (17%) with Brachycoelium salamandrae, 8 (17%) with Bothriocephalus rarus, 3 (6%) with Omeia papillocauda, 5 (11%) with Oswaldocruzia euryceae, 1 (2%) with Desmognathinema nanthalaensis, 1 (2%) with Cosmocercoides variabilis, and 2 (4%) with Amphibiocapillaria tritonispunctati. Five (11%) were concurrently infected with various helminths. We document new host records for the digenean B. salamandrae and the nematodes A. tritonispunctati, D. nanthalaensis, and O. papillocauda.

ABSTRACT: Gyrodactylus corti Mizelle and Kritsky, 1967, originally described from captive wolf-eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) in California, was rediscovered during an outbreak of gyrodactylosis among captive A. ocellatus at a marine research facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The new material is used for a supplemental description of the parasite, including scanning electron microscopy of haptoral hard parts and molecular characterization of the internal transcribed spacer and partial 18S rDNA. The parasite is a member of Malmberg's Gyrodactylus perlucidus group, members of which have a marginal hook sickle with a distinct proximal base and distinct toe and ledge, anchors with a stout root and slender shaft and point, a ventral bar with medium-sized anterolateral processes and a prominent posterior membrane, and a male copulatory organ (MCO) with multiple rows of small spines that, for G. corti, are made up of spines of 2 distinct sizes, the smaller of the 2 occupying the outer row. This stu...

Pentastomids are the most common endoparasite that infects the respiratory tracts of saurapsid reptiles, such as crocodilians. In this study we examined lung pentastomid parasitism in the American alligators, Alligator mississippiensis from northern Florida and southern Louisiana, U.S.A. (partitioned into the Louisiana West Zone and Louisiana East Zone) to determine the potential effects of alligator gender, size, and location on pentastomid distribution and abundance. In total, 1,405 lung pentastomids identified as Sebekia mississippiensis were found in 69 alligators (81.2% prevalence). Male alligators were found to have a higher pentastomid prevalence and intensity in comparison to females, which may be the effect of disparate life-history traits between the sexes and the larger size of males. Host size classes were found to be a significant trait influencing parasitism, as pentastomid prevalence and intensity increased in conjunction with alligator maturation. Our results also indicated that S. mississippiensis has a higher prevalence among Louisiana West Zone alligators, whereas the intensity was found to be higher among Florida alligators. Variation of intermediate host abundance is likely the primary cause for the differing pentastomid distribution among study locations. As such, these data further our understanding of the patterns of alligator pentastomiasis.

Between November 2012 and July 2013, 34 banded sculpins (Cottus carolinae) were collected from 5 counties of northern Arkansas and examined for helminths. Five (19%) were infected with 1 or more helminths, including 2 (6%) with the trematode Crepidostomum cooperi, 3 (9%) with the trematode Plagioporus sp., 1 (3%) with the nematode Spiroxys sp., and 1 (3%) with the acanthocephalan Acanthocephalus tahlequahensis. One (3%) was concurrently infected with C. cooperi, Plagioporus sp., and Spiroxys sp. We document new host records for each of these helminths and 2 new distributional records for C. cooperi and A. tahlequahensis.

Two individuals of Tritetrabdella taiwana that attached to a microhylid Asian painted frog, Kaloula pulchra, were collected in Hong Kong, China. This finding represents a new microhylid host record for T. taiwana. Additionally, molecular phylogenetic analyses were conducted based on COI sequence data. The present phylogenies indicated that further taxonomic studies are needed to clarify the taxonomic status of the species of Tritetrabdella.

ABSTRACT: Cosmocercella samorekensis n. sp. from the intestine of Tribolonotus novaeguineae collected in Papua New Guinea is described and illustrated. Cosmocercella samorekensis is unique among species of Cosmocercella in that it is the only species to possess 3 pairs of vesiculate rosette papillae. Seven species of Nematoda were also present: gravid individuals of Aplectana macintoshii, Cosmocerca zugi, Meteterakis crombiei, Oswaldocruzia bakeri, and Parapharyngodon maplestoni and larva in cysts assigned to Abbreviata sp. and Riticulariidae gen. sp. Four new host records are reported.