A digenean parasite in a mudskipper: Opegaster ouemoensis sp. n. (Digenea: Opecoelidae) in Periophthalmus argentilineatus Valenciennes (Perciformes: Gobiidae) in the mangroves of New Caledonia
Résumé
Opegaster ouemoensis sp. n. is described from Periophthalmus argentilineatus Valenciennes (Gobiidae). Distinctive
features included the weak or undetectable papillae of the ventral sucker and the small, but distinct cirrus-sac. The new species is
compared with 25 marine species of Opegaster for which a table of measurements and ratios is presented. The new combination
Opegaster queenslandicus (Aken’Ova, 2007) (originally in Opecoelus) is formed. Fifteen mudskippers were intensively examined
for parasites; larval anisakid nematodes and acanthocephalans were found, but no monogeneans, cestodes, copepods, isopods, hirudineans or adult nematodes. A brief summary of the helminth parasites of mudskippers is included.