Murraytrematoides Yamaguti, 1958

Domingues, Marcus V. & Boeger, Walter A., 2008, Phylogeny and revision of Diplectanidae Monticelli, 1903 (Platyhelminthes: Monogenoidea), Zootaxa 1698, pp. 1-40 : 29

Murraytrematoides Yamaguti, 1958

Synonymy: Geneticoenteron Yamaguti, 1958

Diagnosis: Tegument smooth. Genital pore opening posterior to male copulatory organ (MCO). Genital atrium muscular. Vas deferens intercaecal or looping left intestinal caecum. MCO tubular, composed of 2 nested tubes; external tube uniform. Accessory piece absent. Prostatic reservoir simple. Accessory copulatory organ absent. Vaginal atrium muscular. Vaginal aperture marginal. Accessory adhesive organ absent [60]. Superficial root of ventral anchor developed. Parasites of marine perciform fishes ( Polynemidae , Embiotocidae , Kuhliidae , Moronidae ).

Type species: M. ditrematis Yamaguti, 1958 from Ditrema temminckii Bleeker (Embiotocidae) .

Other species: M. bychowskii (Nagibina, 1976) Oliver, 1987 from Polydactylus plebeius , and Polydactylus sextarius (Polynemidae) ; M. kuhliae Yamaguti, 1968 from Kuhlia sandvicensis (Kuhlidae) ; M. lateolabracis ( Yamaguti, 1958) Oliver, 1987 from Lateolabrax japonicus (Cuvier) (Moronidae) .

Remarks: Oliver (1982) proposed Murraytrematoidinae with Murraytrematoides ditrematis as type species. The absence of the accessory adhesive organ was considered the main diagnostic characteristic of the subfamily. This same author considered Geneticoenteron a junior synonym of Murraytrematoides and transferred Diplectanum bychowskii Nagibina, 1976 to Murraytrematoides , as M. bychowskii .

As mentioned previously, the cladistic analysis indicates that the accessory adhesive organ was lost several times in the evolutionary history of Diplectanidae , suggesting that Murraytrematoidinae is not monophyletic. The present analysis also supports the non-monophyly of Murraytrematoides , since M. pricei appears as sister group of clade “C”, while M. ditrematis and M. lateolabracis are sister groups in clade “V.” Therefore, we incorporate Murraytrematoidinae in Diplectaninae (see comments above) and recognize Murraytrematoides as a valid genus for species that present the following combined characteristics: (1) absence of accessory adhesive organ, (2) male copulatory organ formed by nested tubes, (3) absence of accessory piece, (4) superficial root of the ventral anchor developed, and (5) vaginal atrium muscular.