Redescription of Electrotaenia Malopteruri (Fritsch, 1886) (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae), a Parasite of Malapterurus Electricus (Siluriformes: Malapteruridae) from Egypt

摘要

The proteocephalidean cestode Electrotaenia malopteruri (Fritsch, 1886) (Proteocephalidae: Gangesiinae), the type- and only species of Electrotaenia Nybelin, 1942 and specific to the electric catfish Malapterurus electricus Gmelin (Siluriformes: Malapteruridae), is redescribed on the basis of freshly collected material from the River Nile in Egypt. The validity of Electrotaenia is confirmed and some unique characters of this genus, observed in extensive material from different host specimens from Egypt, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Nigeria are first reported or described in detail. Such details include the internal morphology of a rostellum-like apical organ which is disc-shaped with a flat or slightly concave apex, the structure of the ovary which is follicular to reticulate, the structure of the cirrus-sac, the presence of a medio-dorsal band of muscle fibres, and the morphology of the vagina and eggs.