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Two new species of Dichelyne Jägerskiöld, 1902 (Nematoda: Cucullanidae) parasitising marine fishes in Iraq

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Abstract

Recent examinations of some marine fishes from off the southern coast of Iraq revealed the presence of two new species of Dichelyne (Dichelyne) Jägerskiöld, 1902 (Nematoda: Cucullanidae), both intestinal parasites, namely: D. (D.) lethrini n. sp. from the smalltooth emperor Lethrinus microdon Valenciennes (Lethrinidae, Acanthuriformes) and D. (D.) iraqiensis n. sp. from the humphead snapper Lutjanus sanguineus (Cuvier) (Lutjanidae, Acanthuriformes). Specimens are described and illustrated based on light and scanning electron microscopical examinations. Dichelyne (D.) lethrini n. sp. is mainly characterised by the length of spicules (522 µm), presence of a dorsal caecum, location of deirids at the level of the posterior end of oesophagus and the post-oesophageal position of the excretory pore, number (10 pairs) and distribution of caudal papillae in the male, and the presence of two minute terminal spines on the female tail tip. Dichelyne (D.) iraqiensis n. sp. differs from the species of the subgenus Dichelyne mainly based on the absence of caudal spines, the presence of a dorsal caecum, the length of spicules (789–884 µm), the location of deirids and the excretory pore approximately at the same level, and the size of eggs (72–78 × 42–51 µm). These new species infecting marine fishes in Iraq represent new geographic records of cucullanids of the subgenus Dichelyne from fishes in marine waters off Iraq.

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Data availability

All samples used in this study have been deposited in the relevant curated, internationally recognised museum collection as outlined in this paper.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah for support of the work. Thanks are also due to the Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre CAS, institution supported by the MEYS CR (LM2015062 Czech-BioImaging) and ERDF (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_013/0001775), for their support with obtaining the scientific data presented in this paper, and to Blanka Škoríková of the same Institute for help with the illustrations.

Funding

This study was partly supported by the institutional support of the Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences (RVO: 60077344 awarded to FM).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq

    Hassan A. Fazaa, Atheer H. Ali & Hussein A. Saud

  2. Department of Animal Production, College of Agriculture, University of Al-Muthanna, Samawah, Iraq

    Hassan A. Fazaa

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

    František Moravec

Authors
  1. Hassan A. Fazaa
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  2. František Moravec
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  3. Atheer H. Ali
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  4. Hussein A. Saud
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Contributions

HAF, AHA and HAS obtained the samples and undertook the processing for morphological identification of the nematodes. FM carried out the identification and morphological analysis, and drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Atheer H. Ali.

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František Moravec is a member of the Editorial Board of Systematic Parasitology. He did not participate in the review process and decision making process of this article.

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All applicable institutional, national and international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Fazaa, H.A., Moravec, F., Ali, A.H. et al. Two new species of Dichelyne Jägerskiöld, 1902 (Nematoda: Cucullanidae) parasitising marine fishes in Iraq. Syst Parasitol 100, 579–590 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-023-10107-2

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