Two New Trematodes of Family Acanthocolpidae Luhe, 1906 From Marine Fish Leiognathus daura (Cuvier) from the Coast of Puri, Orissa, India

BACKGROUND: Genus Acanthocolpus (Trematoda: Acanthocolpiidae) is one of the most important zoonotic digenean with wide geographic distribution in the world. The purpose of the present study was to describe morphological and morphometrical characteristics of Acanthocolpus species, currently prevalent in marine fish fauna of Puri coast, Orissa, India. METHODS: Gastro-intestinal organs of Leiognathus daura (Cuvier) in Puri coast, Orissa, India, were examined for infectivity with digenean trematode species. For examination and measurements of helminthes, acetoalum carmine staining was performed, followed by camera Lucida drawings of morphological characters and measurements of morphometrical criteria with a calibrated microscope. Using valid trematode systematic keys, almost all the parasites were identified at the level of species. RESULTS: Overall, 36 marine fishes were found infected with at least one species of Acanthocolpus. Considering morphological characteristics of Acanthocolpus, two species were identified as new species including Acanthocolpus durghai sp.nov. and Acanthocolpus amrawatai sp.nov. CONCLUSION: During the survey of helminth parasites, collected six different species of the genus Acanthocolpus, out of these two are new species, another is redescribed to show certain variation, the new parasite was obtain from the intestine of marine fish Leiognathus daura (Cuvier)