Morphological and molecular characterization of two new species ofAndracantha(Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) from New Zealand shags (Phalacrocoracidae) and penguins (Spheniscidae) with a key to the species
AbstractTwo new species ofAndracantha(Polymorphidae) are described from the intestine of the shagsLeucocarbo chalconotus(Gray) andPhalacrocorax punctatus(Sparrman), and the penguinEudyptula minor(Forster) from southern South Island, New Zealand.Andracantha leucocarboin. sp. is distinguished from its congeners by having no genital or ventral trunk spines, but possessing a scattering of small spines between the anterior fields of spines. This is the first record of a species ofAndracanthafrom a penguin. Circumbursal papillae are illustrated in a scanning electron micrograph for the first time in the polymorphids.Andracantha sigman. sp. is distinguished by the sigmoid shape of its largest proboscis hook, hook VIII, and having the ventral field separated from the posterior disc field by an aspinous gap. A Maximum Likelihood tree fromcox1 and large ribosomal subunit (LSU) data showsA. leucocarboin. sp. to be more closely related toA. gravidathanA. sigman. sp. and the genusAndracanthaas sister toCorynosomaspp. Genetic distances between species ofAndracanthaare comparatively large. A key to the species ofAndracanthais provided.