Family ANOPLODISCIDAE Tagliani, 1912

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• Sonsino, P. 1890. Di un nuovo trematode raccolto dal Pagrus orphus. Cenno Preliminare. Atti della Società Toscana di Scienze Naturali. Memorie, Serie B 7: 172
• Tagliani, G. 1912. Enoplocotyle minima nov. gen, nov. sp., trematode monogenetico parassita sulla cute di Muraena helena L. Richerche anatomiche e sistermatiche. Archivo di Zoologia, Napoli 5: 281-319

Introduction

Tagliani (1912) assigned Anoplodiscus richiardii to his new subfamily Anoplodiscinae in the family Anisocotylidae Monticelli, 1903. However, Anisocotylidae was invalidated by Price (1938) and the subfamily Anoplodiscinae Tagliani, 1912 was subsequently raised to family rank. Anoplodiscus Sonsino, 1890 remains the only genus.

The morphological features of the genus Anoplodiscus may be summarised as (i) intestine single and asymmetrical; (ii) a pair of bothria open anteroterminally; (iii) the opisthaptor is in the form of a rounded sucker without sclerotised structures; and (iv) the oncomiracidium has eight pairs of marginal hooks (Ogawa & Egusa 1981).

The systematic position of the genus Anoplodiscus is not well established. The genus is considered to bear a superficial resemblance to members of the family Microbothriidae although microbothriids differ from Anoplodiscus species in the structures of the intestine and haptor. In addition, the oncomiracidia of Leptocotyle minor and Pseudoleptobothrium aptychotremae, the only microbothriid species for which oncomiracidia have been described, have three pairs of "spicules"on the haptor (Kearn 1965; Glennon et al. 2006), whereas the oncomiracidium of Anoplodiscus spari has eight pairs of typical marginal hooks. These morphological characteristics of the adult and oncomiracidium of Anoplodiscus do not correspond with those of the Microbothriidae or any other existing families of Monogenea. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Anoplodiscus represents an independent family (Ogawa & Egusa 1981). This was follwed by Boeger & Kritsky (2001).

Australia has 2 recorded species of Anoplodiscus, both from sparids.

Diagnosis

Family Anoplodiscidae Tagliani, 1912, emended Ogawa & Egusa 1981
Family diagnosis: Body subcylindrical to almost rounded in shape. Head truncate, with a pair of bothria opening anteroterminally. Haptor disc-shaped, entirely unarmed, without loculi. Two pairs of eye spots present. Pharynx well developed. Intestine with diverticula, single, asymmetrical in shape, terminating behind testis. Testis single. Seminal vesicle present. Prostatic reservoir absent. Cirrus long, tubular, with accessory piece(?)*. Genital pore median. Ovary subdextral (?), immediately pretesticular. Vagina single, dextral (?), opening ventrally at a preovarian level. Receptaculum seminis vaginae present. Vitellaria consisting of numerous rather large follicles, extending in lateral field from level of genital pore to caecal end. Egg tetrahedral, with a long filament and two processes. Oncomiracidium with eight pairs of marginal hooks. Parasites of marine teleosts.
Type and only genus: Anoplodiscus Sonsino, 1890

Diagnosis References

Boeger, W.A. & Kritsky, D.C. 2001. Interrelationships of the Monogenoidea. pp. 92-102 in Littlewood, D.J.T. & Bray, R.A. (eds). Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes. London, UK : The Systematics Association, Taylor & Francis 356 pp.

Ogawa, K. & Egusa, S. 1981. The systematic position of the genus Anoplodiscus (Monogenea: Anoplodiscidae). Systematic Parasitology 2: 253-260 [259] (Emended family diagnosis)

General References

Boeger, W.A. & Kritsky, D.C. 2001. Interrelationships of the Monogenoidea. pp. 92-102 in Littlewood, D.J.T. & Bray, R.A. (eds). Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes. London, UK : The Systematics Association, Taylor & Francis 356 pp.

Glennon, V., Chisholm, L.A. & Whittington, I.D. 2006. Pseudoleptobtohrium aptychotrema Young, 1967 (Monogenea: Microbothriidae) redescribed from a new host, Trygonorrhina fasciata (Rhinobatidae) in South Australia with a description of the larva and post-larval development. Acta Parasitologica 51(1): 40-46 [43] (Description of Pseudoleptobothrium aptychotremae larva)

Glennon, V., Chisholm, L.A. & Whittington, I.D. 2006. Three unrelated species, 3 sites, same host-monogenean parasites of the southern fiddler ray, Trygonorrhina fasciata, in South Australia: egg hatching strategies and larval behaviour. Parasitology 133: 55-66

Kearn, G.C. 1965. The biology of Leptocotyle minor, a skin parasite of the dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula. Parasitology 55: 473-480

Kearn, G.C. 1965. The biology of Leptocotyle minor, a skin parasite of the dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula. Parasitology 55: 473-480 (Description of Leptocotyle minor larva)

Ogawa, K. & Egusa, S. 1981. The systematic position of the genus Anoplodiscus (Monogenea: Anoplodiscidae). Systematic Parasitology 2: 253-260

Price, E.W. 1938. North American trematodes. II. The families Monocotylidae, Microbothriidae, Acanthocotyle and Udonellidae (Capsaloidea). Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 28(3-4): 109-129; 183-198

Tagliani, G. 1912. Enoplocotyle minima nov. gen, nov. sp., trematode monogenetico parassita sulla cute di Muraena helena L. Richerche anatomiche e sistermatiche. Archivo di Zoologia, Napoli 5: 281-319

History of changes