New Record of Aspidogaster ijimai Kawamura, 1913 (Trematoda: Aspidogastridae) from Cyprinus carpio in Korea

ABSTRACT

Aspidogastrid trematodes (Subclass Aspidogastrea) are a relatively small group with a characteristic adhesive disc and parasitize in a variety of cold-blooded hosts. Until now, only 2 species in the genus Cotylaspis, i.e., C. coreensis and C. sinensis, have been reported as the aspidogastrid trematode in the Republic of Korea (=Korea). In the present study, we intended to describe a species of aspidogastrids collected from the small intestine of the common carp, Cypri-nus carpio, in a faunistic point of view. Total 51 specimens were collected from a carp caught in Nakdong-gang (River) on May 2015. Some of them were prepared as the specimens for light microscopic observations, and some others were prepared for SEM. They were slightly elongated without head lobes, 2,432×840 μm in average size, and had characteristic adhesive discs with 4 rows and 46 alveoli in average. The ovary was reniform and was located in the posterior-upper part of the body. The single testis was larger than the ovary and was located below the ovary. The uterus was coiled containing numerous eggs and distributed in the posterior 2/3 of the body. The vitellaria were follicular, and distributed from the mid-level of testis to near the posterior end. The morphological characters with dimensions of our specimens were closely identical with those of Aspidogaster ijimai previously described. A new aspidogastrid is added among the Korean trematode fauna by the present study.