Macvicaria maamouriae Antar, Georgieva, Gargouri & Kostadinova, 2015

Zedam, F. - Z., Boukadoum, A. & Tazerouti, F., 2024, Four Species Of Digeneans (Trematoda, Opecoelidae) Of The Gilthead Seabream Sparus Aurata (Teleostei, Sparidae) Off The Algerian Coast In The Mediterranean Sea, Zoodiversity 58 (6), pp. 527-544 : 538-540

Macvicaria maamouriae Antar, Georgieva, Gargouri & Kostadinova, 2015

Host. Sparus aurata Linnaeus, 1758

L o c a l i t y. Algerian coast in Oran.

S i t e i n h o s t. Intestine.

R e c o r d s. Ex Lithognathus mormyrus off Tunisia ( Antar et al., 2015) and off Algeria ( Bellal et al., 2018) ( fig. 4 ).

D e s c r i p t i o n

[Based on 20 whole-mounted gravid specimens; fig. 7 ; measurements in table 5] Body oval to elongated, its end rounded, with a maximum width at the level of the ventral sucker, the side edges are parallel. ( fig. 7 , A). Forebody and hindbody, occupying 25–39 (29.8) % and 49–59 (57.50) % of body length, respectively. Tegument thick, not armed. Oral sucker ventro-subterminal, slightly transversely oval. Ventral sucker is transversely oval, located in the second third of the body, larger than the oral sucker, with muscle fibres radiating from the lateral edges of the sucker. Two pairs of large glandular cell groups are present in the anterior body. Prepharynx absent or very short. Pharynx strongly developed, transversely oval. Esophagus present. Intestinal bifurcation in middle of forebody; caeca thin-walled, terminating blindly near posterior body. Two testes; transversely elongated, entire margins, in tandem, contiguous, located in middle of posterior body, anterior testes slightly larger than posterior testes. Circus sac not always well visible, narrower in front, claviform, located at the level of the posterior part of the body to the anterior edge of the ventral sucker. Internal seminal vesicle tubular, wider and coiled posteriorly. Pars prostatica with very small prostatic cells. Ejaculatory duct short, very long, not armed. Genital atrium is small, genital pore sinister, ventral to the left cecum of the intestinal bifurcation ( fig. 7 , B). Ovary transversely oval, pre-testicular ovary with entire margins, anterior to the seminal receptacle; canalicular seminal receptacle small, located between the ovary and the anterior testis. Laurer’s duct is not observed, Mehlis gland is present ( fig. 7 , C). Uterus short, full of eggs. Vitellarium follicular numerous, large, occupies in two broad lateral fields extending from the intestinal birufication to the posterior end of the body, confluent in the anterior body and testicular post-region. Eggs large, capped, not filamented.

These trematodes deserve more attention as they infest the same microhabitat (intestine), parasitize the same typical host ( Sparus aurata ) and share the same locality (Mediterranean). Regarding host specificity, the digeneans recovered in the present study exhibit stenoxenous (to the family level) specificity since they parasite hosts of only one family ( Sparidae ), except for M. obovata which seems to have euryxenous specificity.

Figures

Fig. 4. Geographical distribution of three species of Macvicaria: M. obovata (Molin, 1859) Bartoli, Bray and Gibson, 1989; M. maillardi Bartoli, Bray and Gibson, 1989 and M. maamouriae Antar, Georgieva, Gargouri et Kostadinova, 2015 from fish around the world. References for the records are given between parentheses.

Fig. 7. Macvicaria maamouriae Antar, Georgieva, Gargouri et Kostadinova, 2015 ex Sparus aurata: A — body, ventral views of flattened specimens; B — ventral view of the male genitalia; C — ventral view of the female genitalia.