Discovery of a new cestode species of the order Phyllobothriidea from the shark Mustelus mosis in the Persian Gulf

The order Phyllobothriidea includes various cestode genera, one of which is Orygmatobothrium whose members are highly host-specific to the sharks of the genus Mustelus. The genus Orygmatobothrium includes O.schmittii, O. juani, and O. musteli found respectively in the three shark species Mustelus schmitti, M. fasciatus and M.Mustelus. To date, no information regarding the genus Orygmatobothrium from the waters of southern Iran. In the present study, the examination of the intestines of severalshark specimens of Mustelus mosis from the Persian Gulf resulted in the isolation of the specimens of the genus Orygmatobothrium. Based on the morphology of the scolex and proglottids, it is clear that these cestodes belong to a new species, which can be easily distinguished from O. schmittii by the scolex length as well as the number of the proglottids and testes. Likewise, the bothrial width and the bothrial width/central sucker diameter ratio differentiate Orygmatobothrium n. sp. from the other congeners namely O. juani and O. musteli. This newly discovered species from southern Iran increases the number of the valid species of Orygmatobothrium to 4.

کلیدواژه ها:

Phyllobothriidea ، Mustelus mosis ، Persian Gulf