Multitestis elongatus Machida, 1982

Bray, Rodney A., Cribb, Thomas H. & Justine, Jean-Lou, 2010, Multitestis Manter 1931 (Digenea: Lepocreadiidae) in ephippid and chaetodontid fishes (Perciformes) in the south-western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean off Western Australia, Zootaxa 2427, pp. 36-46 : 40-42

Multitestis elongatus Machida, 1982

( Figs 5–6 )

New material. Host: Platax pinnatus (Linnaeus) , Ephippidae , dusky batfish ( Ephippidae ). Site: Intestine.

Locality: Lizard Island (14°40’S, 145°28’E, April, 2008). Prevalence: 1 of 5.

Voucher specimen: QM G 231061.

Discussion. Measurements of the single specimen have been included in Table 1 . According to Bray et al. (1994), Machida in a personal communication said he considered this species a synonym of Multitestis pyriformis . Having found one specimen that appears to us to be very distinct from M. pyriformis and which generally agrees with Machida’s (1982) description, we believe that Machida was correct originally to describe this form as a new species from Platax orbicularis off Palau. It differs from M. pyriformis in bodyshape (elongate oval vs pyriform; width 29% of body length (new specimen) to 39% (Machida’s data) vs 37– 73% - Machida (1982) fixed his worms under cover glass pressure which may (?) have exaggerated the width somewhat, so the higher figures relating to both species may be result of this fixation technique), sucker width ratio (1:0.97 (new), 0.97–1.00 (original) vs 1:1.01–1.40) and pre-testicular distance (49% (new), 52% (Machida’s data) of body-length vs 30–42%). In addition, the bulk of the cirrus-sac in M. elongatus is oriented antero-posteriorly versus mostly transverse in M. pyriformis .

Figures

FIGURES 5 – 6. Multitestis elongatus Machida, 1982 ex Platax pinnatus, Lizard Island. 5. Ventral view, uterus in outline, vitellarium omitted. 6. Ventral view, vitellarium and outline of suckers only. Scale-bars: 5, 6, 500 µm.