On Devendrosentis garuai, gen. et sp. nov (Neoechinorbynchidae Southwell and Macfie, 1925, Quadrigyridae Van Cleave 1920, Acanthocephala from a fresh water Indian fish Clupisoma garua (Ham)

Morphological and molecular description of Pallisentis roparensis n. sp. (Acanthocephala: Quadrigyridae) infecting the freshwater cat fish Wallago attu from Ropar Wetland, Punjab, India

The study describes a new species of Pallisentis Van Cleave, 1928 infecting the freshwater cat fish Wallago attu Bloch and Schneider, 1801 from Ropar wetland, Punjab, India. The morphological characters of Pallisentis roparensis include proboscis with 4 circles of 10 hooks each gradually declining in size, first circle of hooks <100 μm in length, 15–16 circles of Y-shaped collar spines and conical trunk spines present up to the posterior end in the females and the anterior region of cement gland in males. Saefftigen's pouch is present and cement gland nuclei are 22–25 in males. The sequences generated for 18S, 28S and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 molecular markers of the newly described species are nested well among the other comparable sequences from the GenBank. The phylogenetic analyses show the monophyly of the genus Pallisentis but point towards the paraphyletic relationship among the three subgenera. The histopathology of fish intestine indicates that the parasite stimulates the inflammatory immune response causing serious injury to the mucosa and dilation of the lymphatic vessels of small intestine.

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Description of Pallisentis roparensis n. sp. from a freshwater cat fish Wallago attu from Ropar wetland, Punjab, India.

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Phylogenetic analyses show well nested sequences of new species within the genus and monophyly of the genus Pallisentis.

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Molecular data does not show any trend towards the sub-generic classification based on morphology within the genus.

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Histopathological study of infected host intestine shows mechanical damage and inflammatory immune response..

Four New Species of the Genus Pallisentis (Quadrigyridae, Van Cleave, 1920) from Freshwater Fish in Uttar Pradesh, India

AIMS

Four new species of genus Pallisentis (Van Cleave, in Records Indian Mus 30:147-149, 1928) are described from the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, infecting freshwater fish.

METHODS

The detailed morphology of all four species was studied using light and scanning electron microscopy.

RESULTS

They are: Pallisentis lucknowensis n. sp. from Channa punctatus (Bloch 1785); Pallisentis amini n. sp. from Channa striatus (Bloch 1785); Pallisentis meyeri n. sp. from Channa punctatus (Bloch 1785); and Pallisentis unnaoensis n. sp. from Glossogobius giuris (Hamilton 1822).

CONCLUSION

All four Pallisentis spp. differed from other congeners because of the morphology of the proboscis hooks, size and shape of proboscis hooks, shapes, number and arrangement of trunk spine, size of cement gland, numbers of cement gland nuclei, lemnisci, size and position of testes, gonopore, etc. An updated key of genus Pallisentis of 33 species accepted as valid are provided. The present study extends the number of Pallisentis from 29 to 33 species.