Project description:Based on a molecular and morphological study, a new monocotylid genus, Holocephalocotyle n. gen. is proposed to accommodate Holocephalocotyle monstrosae n. sp., found on the olfactory rosette of the rabbit fish, Chimaera monstrosa Linnaeus (Chondrichthyes, Chimaeridae), from the Mediterranean Sea off Algeria. Identification of fish hosts was confirmed by molecular barcoding of the COI gene. A partial 28S rDNA sequence (D1-D2 domain) of Holocephalocotyle monstrosae was obtained; it was distinct from all known monocotylid sequences (p-distance: 15.5-23%). A phylogenetic tree constructed from available monocotylid sequences showed that Holocephalocotyle monstrosae was included, and basal, in a robust group including species of Merizocotyle, Mycteronastes and Empruthotrema, confirming that the species is a member of the Merizocotylinae. The new genus is unique among the Merizocotylinae in having a distinctive pattern of haptoral loculi with one central, five peripheral and seven "interperipheral loculi" partially inserted between peripheral loculi and a compartmentalised sclerotised male copulatory organ. The diagnosis of the Merizocotylinae is amended to include this new genus. The new genus represents the second monocotylid genus recorded from holocephalans.
