{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T21:01:21Z","timestamp":1791234081064,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"American Society of Parasitologists","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Journal of Parasitology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>We herein propose Parabenedeniella Brule and Bullard n. gen. to accommodate Parabenedeniella posterocolpa n. comb., formerly of Benedeniella Johnston, 1929 (both Capsalidae: Entobdellinae). Parabenedeniella differs from all other entobdelline genera by the combination of having a U-shaped (not looped) proximal portion of the cirrus sac, a vagina that is directed posterolaterad, a tube-like proximal portion of the vagina that is approximately one-third of the total length of the vagina, a thick-walled and muscular distal portion of the vagina that is approximately two-thirds of the total length of the vagina, and a dorsal vaginal pore that is submarginal to the sinistral body margin posterior to or at the level of the testes. We collected specimens of P. posterocolpa from 5 cownose rays, Rhinoptera bonasus (Rhinopteridae), and 1 Brazilian cownose ray, Rhinoptera brasiliensis, from the Gulf of America and from 1 giant manta, Mobula birostris (Mobulidae), from an exhibit tank at a public aquarium, which also contained cownose rays. Parasite specimens were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for morphology or preserved in 95% EtOH for DNA extraction. All of the collected specimens of P. posterocolpa were morphologically indistinguishable from the holotype of P. posterocolpa and were diagnosed by having anterior attachment organs, each with anteroventral grooves and a dorsal papilla, and a dorsal vaginal pore located level with or posterior to the testes. We generated 15 sequences: the ITS1, 28S, and COI from 2 specimens of P. posterocolpa from a cownose ray and 2 specimens from a giant manta plus a specimen from the Brazilian cownose ray. The only extant 28S sequence previously ascribed to P. posterocolpa was identical to each of our 28S sequences (no previous ITS1 or COI sequences for P. posterocolpa exist), and the new ITS1 sequences were identical. Two morphologically identical specimens of P. posterocolpa spaced approximately 5 mm apart on a single host specimen had distinct COI sequences (2 bp or 0.2% difference). The 28S analysis recovered P. posterocolpa as a sister to a clade comprising species of Entobdella and Neoentobdella (all Entobdellinae). The 28S and COI phylogenetic analyses recovered Entobdellinae as sister to Capsalinae; both were recovered as sister to Dionchinae (both Capsalidae). This is the first study of P. posterocolpa that combines morphology and nucleotide sequences from multiple infections and host species, the first record of P. posterocolpa infecting the Brazilian cownose ray, and the first detailed taxonomic description of specimens of P. posterocolpa infecting the giant manta.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1645\/25-92","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T19:51:04Z","timestamp":1782849064000},"page":"368-388","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Redescription of Parabenedeniella posterocolpa (Hargis, 1955) Brule and Bullard n. gen. et n. comb. (Monogenoidea: Capsalidae: Entobdellinae) from Infections on Three Batoid Hosts (Rhinopteridae and Mobulidae) with Phylogenetic Analysis and Comments about Capsalid Host Specificity"],"prefix":"10.1645","volume":"112","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4314-8630","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"John H.","family":"Brule","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Southeastern Cooperative Fish Parasite and Disease Laboratory, School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, College of Agriculture, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Micah B.","family":"Warren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Southeastern Cooperative Fish Parasite and Disease Laboratory, School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, College of Agriculture, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephen A.","family":"Bullard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Southeastern Cooperative Fish Parasite and Disease Laboratory, School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, College of Agriculture, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1220","reference":[{"key":"1","unstructured":"G. W. Benz  and S. A. Bullard  \"The Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual: Captive Care of Sharks, Rays and their Relatives.\"  \"Metazoan parasites and associates of chondrichthyans with emphasis on taxa harmful to captive hosts.\" 325 (2004)"},{"key":"3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"J. H. Brule, M. B. Warren, Driggers W. B., et al.  \"Journal of Parasitology.\"  111, \"New species of Axine Abildgaard, 1794 (Monogenoidea: Axinidae) infecting the gill lamellae of Atlantic flying-fish, Cheilopogon melanurus (Valenciennes) (Exocoetidae) in the western Atlantic Ocean with phylogenetic analysis and comments on the female genitalia of Axine spp.\" 276 (2025)","DOI":"10.1645\/24-145"},{"key":"4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"K. Cajiao-Mora, J. H. Brule, H. R. Dutton, et al.  \"International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife.\"  26, \"Acanthostomum yahuarcaquense n. sp. (Digenea: Cryptogonimidae) infecting the intestine of an aquatic coral snake, Micrurus surinamensis (Cuvier, 1817) (Serpentes: Elapidae) from the flooded rainforest habitat of the Yahuarcaca Lake System (Amazon River, Colombia) and phylogenetic analysis of Cryptogonimidae.\" 101055 (2025)","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijppaw.2025.101055"},{"key":"5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"O. Chernomor, Von Haeseler A., B. Q. Minh,  \"Systematic Biology.\"  65, \"Terrace aware data structures for phylogenomic inference from supermatrices.\" 997 (2016)","DOI":"10.1093\/sysbio\/syw037"},{"key":"6","unstructured":"A. D. M. Dove, T. M. Clauss, D. P. Marancik, et al.  \"The Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual II: Recent Advances in the Care of Sharks, Rays and Their Relatives.\"  \"Emerging diseases of elasmobranchs in aquaria.\" 263 (2017)"},{"key":"7","unstructured":"W. N. Eschmeyer, R. Fricke, Van Der Laan R.,  \"Catalog of fishes: Genera, species, references.\"  (2016)"},{"key":"10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"W. J. Hargis,  \"Experimental Parasitology.\"  6, \"The host specificity of monogenetic trematodes.\" 610 (1957)","DOI":"10.1016\/0014-4894(57)90044-9"},{"key":"13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"C. M. Jones, E. R. Hoffmayer, J. M. Hendon, et al.  \"Zootaxa.\"  4286, \"Morphological conservation of rays in the genus Rhinoptera (Elasmobranchii, Rhinopteridae) conceals the occurrence of a large batoid, Rhinoptera brasiliensis M\u00fcller, in the northern Gulf of Mexico.\" 499 (2017)","DOI":"10.11646\/zootaxa.4286.4.3"},{"key":"15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"K. Katoh  and D. M. Standley  \"Molecular Biology and Evolution.\"  30, \"MAFFT: Multiple sequence alignment software version 7: Improvements in performance and usability.\" 772 (2013)","DOI":"10.1093\/molbev\/mst010"},{"key":"16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"G. C. Kearn  and I. D. Whittington  \"Parasitology.\"  104, \"Diversity of reproductive behaviour in platyhelminth parasites: Insemination in some benedeniine (capsalid) monogeneans.\" 489 (1992)","DOI":"10.1017\/S0031182000063757"},{"key":"17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"P. R. Last, W. T. White, C. M. Jones,  \"Rays of the World.\"  \"Cownose rays, family Rhinopteridae.\" 732 (2016)","DOI":"10.1071\/9780643109148-ch32"},{"key":"18","unstructured":"A. R. Lawler,  \"Monogenea: Monopisthocotylea) an Evaluation of the Host-Parasite Locality Records of the Superfamily Capsaloidea, Price, 1936, and Their Utility in Determinations of Host-Specificity and Zoogeography. Special Papers in Marine Science 6.\"  \"Zoogeography and Host-Specificity of the Superfamily Capsaloidea Price, 1936\" 650 (1981)"},{"key":"19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"A. X. Li, X. Y., Wu, X. J. Ding, et al.  \"Molecular and Cellular Probes.\"  19, \"PCR-SSCP as a molecular tool for the identification of Benedeniinae (Monogenea: Capsalidae) from marine fish.\" 35 (2005)","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mcp.2004.09.002"},{"key":"20","unstructured":"M. L\u00fche,  \"Supplementary Report.\"  5, \"Report on the trematode parasites from the marine fishes of Ceylon. Report to the Government of Ceylon on the Pearl Oyster Fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar\" 97 (1906)"},{"key":"21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"A. M. Lum, S. N. Miller, T. M. Clauss, et al.  \"Journal of Aquatic Animal Health.\"  36, \"Physiologic responses of cownose rays following freshwater dips for treatment of capsalid monogeneans.\" 128 (2024)","DOI":"10.1002\/aah.10210"},{"key":"22","unstructured":"J. D. Mceachran  and De Carvalho M. R.  \"The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Atlantic, Vol. 1. Introduction, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Hagfishes, Sharks, Batoid Fishes and Chimaeras.\"  \"Rhinopteridae.\" 583 (2002)"},{"key":"23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"J. W. Mcmahon,  \"Chesapeake Science.\"  4, \"Monogenetic trematodes from some Chesapeake Bay fishes, Part I. The superfamilies Capsaloidea Price, 1936 and Diclidophoroidea Price, 1936.\" 151 (1963)","DOI":"10.2307\/1351355"},{"key":"25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"F. N. Morales-Serna, Chapa-L\u00f3pez M., J. M. Mart\u00ednezbrown, et al.  \"Aquaculture.\"  492, \"Efficacy of praziquantel and a combination anthelmintic (Adecto\u00ae) in bath treatments against Tagia ecuadori and Neobenedenia melleni (Monogenea), parasites of bullseye puffer fish.\" 361 (2018)","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aquaculture.2018.04.043"},{"key":"27","unstructured":"R. M. Overstreet,  \"Marine Maladies? Worms, Germs, and Other Symbionts from the Northern Gulf of Mexico.\"  140 (1978)"},{"key":"28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"P. Palacios-Barreto, V. P. Cruz, F. Foresti, et al.  \"Zootaxa.\"  4341, \"Molecular evidence supporting the expansion of the geographical distribution of the Brazilian cownose ray Rhinoptera brasiliensis (Myliobatiformes: Rhinopteridae) in the western Atlantic.\" 593 (2017)","DOI":"10.11646\/Zootaxa.4341.4.12"},{"key":"29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"E. M. Perkins, S. C. Donnellan, T. Bertozzi, et al.  \"Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.\"  52, \"Looks can deceive: Molecular phylogeny of a family of flatworm ectoparasites (Monogenea: Capsalidae) does not reflect current morphological classification.\" 705 (2009)","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ympev.2009.05.008"},{"key":"30","unstructured":"G. Pulido-Flores,  \"Concepts in Animal Parasitology.\"  \"Monogenea (Class).\" 733 (2024)"},{"key":"31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"G. Pulido-Flores  and S. Monks  \"Comparative Parasitology.\"  72, \"Monogenean parasites of some elasmobranchs (Chondrichthyes) from the Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula, Mexico.\" 69 (2005)","DOI":"10.1654\/4049"},{"key":"33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"D. A. Thoney,  \"Journal of Fish Diseases.\"  13, \"The effects of trichlorfon, praziquantel and copper sulphate on various stages of the monogenean Benedeniella posterocolpa, a skin parasite of the cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus (Mitchill).\" 385 (1990)","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2761.1990.tb00797.x"},{"key":"34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"H. K. Weber, C. M. Jones, M. J. Ajemian, et al.  \"Journal of Fish Biology.\"  98, \"Genetic evidence supports a range extension for the Brazilian cownose ray Rhinoptera brasiliensis in the western North Atlantic.\" 577 (2021)","DOI":"10.1111\/jfb.14582"},{"key":"35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"I. D. Whittington,  \"Zootaxa.\"  2519, \"Revision of Benedeniella Johnston, 1929 (Monogenea: Capsalidae), its assignment to Entobdellinae Bychowsky, 1957 and comments on subfamilial composition.\" 1 (2010)","DOI":"10.11646\/zootaxa.2519.1.1"},{"key":"36","unstructured":"S. Yamaguti,  \"Systema Helminthum, Vol. IV. Monogenea and Aspidocotylea.\"  699 (1963)"},{"key":"8","unstructured":"\"FishBase.\"  (2024)"},{"key":"14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"S. Kalyaanamoorthy, B. Q. Minh, T. K. F. Wong, et al.  \"Nature Methods.\"  14, \"ModelFinder: fast model selection for accurate phylogenetic estimates.\" 587 (2017)","DOI":"10.1038\/nmeth.4285"},{"key":"24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"O. Miura, A. M. Kuris, M. E. Torchin, et al.  \"International Journal for Parasitology.\"  35, \"Molecular-genetic analyses reveal cryptic species of trematodes in the intertidal gastropod, Batillaria cumingi (Crosse).\" 793 (2005)","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpara.2005.02.014"},{"key":"9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"W. J. Hargis,  \"Transactions of the American Microscopical Society.\"  74, \"Monogenetic trematodes of Gulf of Mexico fishes. Part V. The superfamily Capsaloidea.\" 203 (1955)","DOI":"10.2307\/3224093"},{"key":"26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"L. T. Nguyen, H. A. Schmidt, Von Haeseler A., et al.  \"Molecular Biology and Evolution.\"  32, \"IQ-TREE: A fast and effective stochastic algorithm for estimating maximum-likelihood phylogenies.\" 268 (2015)","DOI":"10.1093\/molbev\/msu300"},{"key":"2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"J. Bowles, M. Hope, W. U. Tiu, et al.  \"Acta Tropica.\"  55, \"Nuclear and mitochondrial genetic markers highly conserved between Chinese and Philippine Schistosoma japonicum.\" 217 (1993)","DOI":"10.1016\/0001-706X(93)90079-Q"},{"key":"11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"N. Hassouna, B. Mithot, J. P. Bachellerie,  \"Nucleic Acids Research.\"  12, \"The complete nucleotide sequence of mouse 28S rRNA gene. Implications for the process of size increase of the large subunit rRNA in higher eukaryotes.\" 3563 (1984)","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/12.8.3563"},{"key":"32","unstructured":"A. Rambaut, M. A. Suchard, D. Xie, et al.  \"FigTree v1.4.3.\"  (2014)"},{"key":"12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"D. T. Hoang, O. Chernomor, Von Haeseler A., et al.  \"Molecular Biology and Evolution.\"  35, \"UFBoot2: Improving the ultrafast bootstrap approximation.\" 518 (2018)","DOI":"10.1093\/molbev\/msx281"}],"container-title":["Journal of Parasitology"],"original-title":[],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T20:45:22Z","timestamp":1791233122000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bioone.org\/journals\/journal-of-parasitology\/volume-112\/issue-3\/25-92\/Redescription-of-Parabenedeniella-posterocolpa-Hargis-1955-Brule-and-Bullard-n\/10.1645\/25-92.full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]},"references-count":36,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1645\/25-92","relation":{},"ISSN":["0022-3395","1937-2345"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0022-3395","type":"print"},{"value":"1937-2345","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]}}}