Fig. 1
Photomicrographs of Diclidophora merlangi infecting Acanthopagrus bifasciatus. (A) Whole-mount preparation. (B–K) High magnifications for different body parts, as follows: (B–F) Anterior portion of the prohaptor. (G) Germarium. (H) Testes. (I–K) Clamps in haptor. Note: MO, mouth; BS, buccal sucker; PH, pharynx; GC, gland cells; OE, oesophagus; MCO, male copulatory organ; IC, intestinal crura; V, vitellaria; VR, vitelline reservoir; G, germarium; TE, testes; CL, clamps; HA, haptor; LS, lateral sclerite; MS, median sclerite; ND, nodular openings.
Fig. 2.
A consensus phylogenetic tree constructed with maximum likelihood (ML) and Neighbor Joining (NJ) methods from the partial 28S rRNA sequences, showing phylogenetic relationships between Diclidophora merlangi infecting Acanthopagrus bifasciatus (2 sequences (OR889477-OR889478)) and 22 related taxa in NCBI GenBank with Discocotyle sagittata as an outgroup. Numbers indicated at branch nodes are bootstrap values (ML/NJ).
Fig. 3.
A consensus phylogenetic tree constructed with maximum likelihood (ML) and Neighbor Joining (NJ) methods from the partial COI sequences, showing phylogenetic relationships between Acanthopagrus bifasciatus (one sequence (OR945709)) and 19 related taxa in NCBI GenBank with Rhabdosargus haffara as an outgroup. Numbers indicated at branch nodes are bootstrap values (ML/NJ).
Table 1.
Comparative metrical data for Diclidophora merlangi and their congeneric species.
| Comparable parameters | Perdiguero-Alonso et al. 2006 | Morsy et al. 2018 | Present study | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host | Gadus morhua | Gadus morhua | Merlangius merlangus | Saurida undosquamis | Acanthopagrus bifasciatus | |
| Location | North Sea | Celtic Sea | Celtic Deep | Red Sea, Egypt | Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia | |
| Body | Length | 2.24 | 3.30 | 9.07±1.98 (4.25–13.10) | 6±2 (4–10) | 3.67±0.12 (2.97–5.26) |
| Width | 1.18 | 1.06 | 3.69±0.77 (2.12–5.43) | 1.25±0.23 (0.45–1.39) | 0.72±0.01 (0.61–0.95) | |
| Buccal sucker diameter | - | - | - | 0.12±0.02 (0.08–0.15) | 0.076±0.004 (0.071–0.089) | |
| Pharynx length | 0.15 | 0.08 | 0.27±0.04 (0.15–0.39) | 0.12±0.006 (0.08–0.15) | 0.059±0.013 (0.041–0.075) | |
| Muscular bulb diameter | 0.077 | 0.069 | 0.12±0.02 (0.08–0.15) | - | 0.049±0.008 (0.039–0.055) | |
| Number of copulatory organ hooks | 17 | 17 | 17±2 (13–20) | 15–19 | 17 | |
| Germarium length | 0.53 | 0.78 | 1.96±0.43 (1.00–2.83) | 0.60±0.01 (0.04–0.80) | 0.232±0.034 (0.191–0.270) | |
| Number of testes | 223 | 256 | 201±31 (167–290) | 220±40 (190–250) | 218±10 (184–267) | |
| Testicular area length | 0.826 | 0.908 | 0.670±0.031 (0.177–1.413) | - | 0.981±0.023 (0.801–1.26) | |
| Haptor length | 0.85 | 1.15 | 2.68±0.63 (1.35–4.10) | - | 0.665±0.128 (0.459–0.752) | |
| First clamp length | 0.17 | 0.22 | 0.35±0.05 (0.22–0.43) | - | 0.160±0.008 (0.150–0.166) | |
| First clamp width | 0.14 | 0.17 | 0.28±0.40 (0.18–0.36) | 0.39±0.01 (0.28–0.47) | 0.142±0.008 (0.133–0.149) | |