Holorchis castex Bray & Justine, 2007, n. sp.
Creators: name: Bray, Rodney A.
name: Justine, Jean-Lou
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2007
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Platyhelminthes
Trematoda
Plagiorchiida
Lepocreadiidae
Holorchis
Holorchis castex

description: Holorchis castex n. sp.
(Figs 1–5)
Type-host: Diagramma pictum (Thunberg, 1792), Haemulidae, painted sweet-lips.
Site: Digestive tract.
Type-locality: Rocher à la voile, Nouméa, New Caledonia (22°18’30’’S, 166°25’50’’E, 01/06/2006).
Prevalence: 1 of 1 (100%).
Intensity: 6.
Type-specimens: holotype MNHN JNC1848–D1, paratypes MNHN JNC1848–D2–3, BMNH 2006.12.6.40–41.
Etymology: ‘Castex’ or ‘loche castex’ is the common name of the host in New Caledonia (Laboute & Grandperrin 2000).
Description. Based on five specimens. Body elongate, large; 6,793 –8,577 × 1,145 –1,438 (7,569 × 1,317); width 16.8–18.4 (17.4)% of body-length (Figure 1). Tegument spinous to posterior extremity, sparser in hindbody. Pre-oral lobe distinct, 42–66 (51) long. Oral sucker subglobular, subterminal, with distinct groove in dorsal margin; 401–463 × 418–500 (422 × 456) (Figure 4). Ventral sucker rounded, in anterior third of body; 349–419 × 332–416 (382 × 375). Forebody 1,998 –2,376 (2,149) long; 27.7–29.4 (28.4)% of body-length. Sucker-ratios: length 1:0.87–0.94 (0.91); width 1:0.79–0.86 (0.82). Prepharynx short; mainly within posterior concavity of oral sucker, reaching 0–16 (11) posterior to oral sucker. Pharynx large, doliiform; 211–288 × 218–278 (250 × 246). Pharynx: oral sucker ratio 1:1.64–1.93 (1.86). Oesophagus short; 63–225 (141) long. Intestinal bifurcation in anterior forebody, 1,230 –1,505 (1,327) from ventral sucker. Caeca long, narrow, apparently terminate blindly near posterior extremity, terminations obscured by vitellarium, post-caecal distance approximately 249–440 (342).
Testes 2, entire, oval, almost tandem, contiguous or slightly separated, just in anterior half of hindbody; anterior 498–652 × 407–556 (581 × 508); posterior 509–699 × 468–590 (640 × 524). Intertesticular distance 0–151 (66); 0–1.76 (0.83)% of body-length. Post-testicular distance 2,407 –3,022 (2,673); 33.5–37.0 (35.3)% of body-length. External seminal vesicle long, convoluted, reaches dorsal to about mid-level of ventral sucker. Cirrus-sac oval, thick-walled with distinct layer of gland-cells between outer wall and male-duct (Figure 2). Internal seminal vesicle long, slightly undulating, with thickened muscular wall; 405–471 × 248–551 (442 × 284). Pars prostatica vesicular, subglobular, with thick wall, sparsely lined with anuclear cell-like bodies. Ejaculatory duct short, muscular, may be extended through genital pore as cirrus. Genital atrium distinct, thick-walled. Genital pore submedian, well anterior to ventral sucker.
Ovary oval, entire, 349–429 × 220–323 (400 × 271); 628–894 (764) (9.59–10.8 (9.91)% of body-length) pre-testicular, separated from anterior testis by bulk of uterus, 56–136 (89) (0.73–1.58 (1.16)% of bodylength) from ventral sucker. Seminal receptacle oval, postero-median to ovary. Laurer’s canal opens dorsally median to ovary (Figure 5). Mehlis’ gland median to ovary. Uterus intercaecal, overlaps anterior testis, narrows at level of ovary, loops dorsally to ventral sucker. Metraterm about half length of cirrus-sac, with slightly thickened wall, runs dorsally to cirrus-sac (Figure 3). Eggs tanned, operculate, extremely numerous, 75–87 × 27–33 (80 × 31). Vitellarium follicular, fields reach well into forebody, 380–688 (542) anterior to ventral sucker, and close to posterior extremity, mainly lateral, dorsal and ventral to caeca, confluent dorsal and ventral in post-testicular region. Vitelline reservoir ventral to posterior part of ovary.
Excretory pore terminal. Excretory vesicle I-shaped, passes sinistrally to posterior testis, dextrally to anterior testis, not traced beyond anterior testis, but presumably terminates somewhere dorsally to uterus.
description: Published as part of Bray, Rodney A. & Justine, Jean-Lou, 2007, Holorchis castex n. sp. (Digenea: Lepocreadiidae) from the painted sweet-lips Diagramma pictum (Thunberg, 1792) (Perciformes: Haemulidae) from New Caledonia, pp. 51-56 in Zootaxa 1426 on pages 52-53, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.175744