The discovery of Neoechinorhynchus zabensis (Acanthocephala: Neoechinorhynchidae) from cyprinid fishes in Turkey and Iran, with special reference to new morphological features revealed by scanning electron microscopy

Neoechinorhynchus zabensis Amin, Abdullah, and Mhaisen, 2003 was described from Capoeta damascina (Valenciennes, 1842) and Capoeta trutta (Heckel, 1843) in the Greater and Lesser Zab rivers of northern Iraq. It is reported here from C. trutta in the Dez River, Iran, and from Capoeta barroisi Lortet, 1894 (new host record) in the Murat River, Turkey (both are new locality records). Neoechinorhynchus zabensis appears to be restricted to the Tigris− Euphrates basin in Iraq, Turkey, and Iran, where it infects native fishes of the genus Capoeta Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1842 (Cyprinidae). Other fishes of the same genus from nearby river systems and fi shes of other genera from the Tigris−Euphrates basin were negative for N. zabensis infections. The specimens from Iran and Turkey were similar to those described in Iraq; those from C. barroisi in the Murat River, Turkey, were somewhat larger. Scanning electron microscopy examination revealed a slightly different size of anterior hook at the anterior and posterior levels, sensory pits at the base of the proboscis, epidermal pores at the surface of the integument that become larger in the middle of trunk, and the oblong shape of the filamented sperms.