Protolamellodiscus Oliver, 1969

Domingues, Marcus V. & Boeger, Walter A., 2008, Phylogeny and revision of Diplectanidae Monticelli, 1903 (Platyhelminthes: Monogenoidea), Zootaxa 1698, pp. 1-40 : 17-18

Protolamellodiscus Oliver, 1969

Diagnosis: Eyes present (2 pairs). Vas deferens intercaecal or looping left intestinal caecum. MCO tubular, simple. Accessory piece present, lacking articulation with MCO. Vaginal aperture marginal. Vaginal atrium muscular [17]. Egg tetrahedral [16]. Lamellodiscs ventral, dorsal; intermediate lamellae fused at midline. Telescoping lamellae present or absent. Superficial root of ventral anchor reduced [15]. Parasites of marine perciform fishes ( Lethrinidae , Nemipteridae , Serranidae and Sparidae ).

Type-species: P. s e r r a n e l l i ( Euzet & Oliver, 1965) Oliver, 1969 from Serranus cabrilla (Linnaeus) (Serranidae) (type host), Serranus hepatus (Linnaeus) , and Serranus scriba (Linnaeus) .

Other species: P. convolutus ( Yamaguti, 1953) Oliver, 1987 from Lethrinus obsoletus (Lethrinidae) , and Nemipterus hexodon (Quoy & Gaymard) (Nemipteridae) ; P. raibauti Oliver & Radujkovic, 1987 from Diplodus annularis (Linnaeus) (Sparidae) ; P. senilobatus Kritsky, Jiménez-Ruiz & Sey, 2000 from Argyrops filamentosus (Valenciennes) (Sparidae) , and Argyrops spinifer (Forsskål) .

Remarks: Kritsky et al. (2000) suggested that Protolamellodiscus might be a synonym of Calydiscoides , since species of both genera possess intermediate lamellae of the lamellodisc fused at midline and by some species of Protolamellodiscus presenting telescoping lamellae. However, the present analysis does not support this synonymyzation, because Protolamellodiscus appears as a sister taxon of clade “F”, sharing the presence of tetrahedral egg [16].