Morphological characterization of Podocotyloides parupenei (Manter, 1963) Pritchard, 1966 (Digenea: Opecoelidae) from Nemipterus furcosus (Perciformes: Nemipteridae) of the South China Sea

Abstract

In the present study, the morphological and morphometric characterization of one species of digenetic trematodes infecting the intestines of the fork-tailed threadfin bream Nemipterus furcosus (Perciformes: Nemipteridae) was described by means of light microscopy as a re-description. 93 out of 369 (25.2 %) of this fish species were found to be naturally infected with Podocotyloides parupenei (Trematoda: Opecoelidae). This parasite possesses a body that is elongate and widest at the level of the acetabulum, with an oral sucker smaller than the ventral sucker. The prevalence of digenean from the present study did not agree with the previous study. The present paper revealed to the record digenetic parasite, Podocotyloides parupenei in the small intestine of the fork-tailed threadfin bream Nemipterus furcosus for the first time in Malaysia and the South China Sea.