Quadriacanthus halajiani Kasembele, Bahanak & Vanhove, 2024

Quadriacanthus halajiani Kasembele, Bahanak & Vanhove , sp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/ C86AAF04-FA01-49CD-B24E-1B3BFCB39FA5

Type-host and locality: C. ngamensis ; DR Congo, Haut-Katanga , Lubanda village, Lake Lubanda 11°04’S, 27°55’E, November 2021, G.K. Kasembele leg. GoogleMaps

Other locality: Luapula River.

Prevalence: P = 46.7% (Lake Lubanda); P = 40% (Luapula River).

Mean intensity: Lake Lubanda: 1.9 ± 1.8; Luapula River: 2.7 ± 2.3

Type-material: The holotype HU #985 and 27 paratypes HU #891; 894; 896–899; 902; 903; 906–909; 918; 919; 923; 9388– 940; 950; 951; 960; 967; 973; 986; 988; 992; 999 are deposited in the collection of the Research Group Zoology: Biodiversity & Toxicology, at Hasselt University ( Diepenbeek , Belgium) .

Etymology: This species is named in honour of Dr. Ali Halajian for his valuable and kind contribution during field work and practice in fish parasitology in South Africa (University of Limpopo).

Description: Tube-shaped MCO. Accessory piece simple, thicker in its distal part and with bulge and depression respectively on the external and internal sides of its median part and ending in well-developed point. Vagina not ob - served. Dorsal anchor without shaft nor guard, with broad base and short point. Dorsal bar with rectangular centre, medium median process posteriorly directed and two lateral expansions. Dorsal cuneus big and triangular. Ventral anchor without shaft nor guard, with regularly curved blade. Ventral bar V-shaped with two lateral branches. Y-shaped ventral cuneus. Seven pairs of hooks: pairs IV, III, I (decreasing size) larger than pairs II, V-VII almost equal ( Fig. 6 View Figure 6 ).

Remarks: Based on the comparative morphology of the ventral and dorsal bars, ventral and dorsal cunei, Q. halajiani sp. nov. is comparable to Q. agnebiensis N’Douba, Lambert & Euzet, 1999 and Q. longifilisi N’Douba, Lambert & Euzet, 1999 described from Heterobranchus isopterus and H. longifilis , in Ivory Coast. The new species differs from the latter two species by the shape and size of the MCO, slightly curved vs straight tube in Q. longifilisi (28.3–34.8) vs (35–42), the AP, ending in a point and possessing a bulge at its external side vs two points at the distal part of the AP of Q. agnebiensis , with two bulges at its external side (31.7–35.7) vs (38–43), and the vagina, non-sclerotized vs sclerotized in the two other species. Quadriacanthus halajiani sp. nov. also differs in the length of the dorsal cuneus (22–28) vs (7–10) and (7–17) from Q. agnebiensis and Q. longifilisi respectively.