Two new species of Acanthobothrium Blanchard, 1848 (Cestoda, Onchoproteocephalidea) from Urobatisjamaicensis (Cuvier, 1816) (Elasmobranchii, Batoidea, Myliobatiformes) of the Mexican Caribbean

Eight specimens of Urobatis jamaicensis were collected from four localities of the Yu-catan Peninsula, Mexico, of which four specimens were infected with cestodes of two new species of Acanthobothrium. Acanthobothrium garciaprietoi sp. nov. differs from congeners by a combination of characters including the size of the scolex and bothridia, length of the cephalic peduncle, length of the axial and abaxial prongs and total length of the abaxial prongs of the hooks, size of the cirrus sac and testes in mature proglottids, and the total number of proglottids. The most prominent characteristic distinguishing A. pulidofloresae sp. nov. from other species of the Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean Sea/Gulf of Mexico is the form of the scolex, which has the clover leaf configuration. In addition, it can be distinguished by the total length of the worm, total number of proglottids, small accessory suckers, the form of the bothridia, length of the axial and abaxial prongs and total abaxial prong length of hooks, and the number of testes. According to the current category scheme, A. garciaprietoi sp. nov. and A. pulidofloresae sp. nov., belong to cat-egories 1 and 5, respectively.

Automated summary

Eight specimens of Urobatis jamaicensis collected from the Yu-catan Peninsula, Mexico, were found to be infected with two new species of Acanthobothrium. These new species differ from other congeners in various characteristics, such as size of the scolex and bothridia, length of the cephalic peduncle, and number of proglottids. One of the new species is distinguished by its clover leaf-shaped scolex. According to the current category scheme, these new species belong to categories 1 and 5, respectively.