New genus and species of eudactylinid (Siphonostomatoida: Copepoda) from gill lamellae of ornate eagle rays, Aetomylaeus vespertilio (Myliobatidae), collected in the Beagle Gulf off northern Australia.

Janinecaira darkthread n. gen., n. sp. (Eudactylinidae, Siphonostomatoida, Copepoda) infects gills of the ornate eagle ray Aetomylaeus vespertilio (Bleeker, 1852) (Myliobatidae, Myliobatiformes) in the Beagle Gulf (Timor Sea, eastern Indian Ocean) off northern Australia. The adult female of Janinecaira darkthread n. sp. is most easily distinguished from other eudactylinids (Eudactylinidae) by its long genital complex that comprises about 86-90% of the total body length. A diagnostic key to genera of Eudactylinidae based on adult females is provided.

New genus with two new species of capsalid monogeneans from dasyatids in the Gulf of California.

We propose Listrocephalos n. gen. (Monogenea: Capsalidae: Entobdellinae) for 2 new capsalid species that infect the skin of 2 species of diamond stingrays (Dasyatidae) in the Gulf of California. We also provide additional observations on 2 previously described capsalid species, which infect the external body surface of stingrays and are currently in Entobdella Blainville in Lamarck, 1818, and transfer them to the proposed new genus. The members of this genus, Listrocephalos corona (Hargis, 1955) n. comb. (type species), Listrocephalos guberleti (Caballero and Bravo-Hollis, 1962) n. comb., Listrocephalos kearni n. sp., and Listrocephalos whittingtoni n. sp., differ from other entobdellines by the combination of having an anterolateral adhesive pad comprising 2 ventral columns of raised ovoid structures, I pair of glands that flank the preoral depression, a discoid and aseptate haptor that lacks a marginal valve but has clover-shaped papillae dispersed radially over its entire ventral surface, minute and nonoverlapping median haptoral sclerites, a bizarre chamber yielding a duct that opens on the surface of the penis, separate genital pores, and a gland of Goto located between the testes and ovary. Listrocephalos kearni n. sp. infects Dasyatis brevis and is most easily distinguished from its congeners by the combination of lacking penis tubules and having a convoluted proximal portion of the vas deferens that occupies the space between the ootype and ovary. Listrocephalos whittingtoni n. sp. infects Dasyatis longa and is most easily distinguished from its congeners by the combination of having penis tubules and a vaginal pore that is located posterior to the level of the uterus. We report specimens of L. corona from the ventral body surface of Dasyatis say from a new locality, Mississippi Sound, as well as specimens of L. guberleti from the skin of 2 new hosts, Urobatis maculatus and Urobatis concentricus, and a new locality, Elkhorn Slough, California. We provide a diagnostic key and a table of records for Listrocephalos spp.

Taeniacanthodes dojirii n. sp. (Copepoda: Poecilostomatoida: Taeniacanthidae), from Cortez electric rays (Narcine entemedor: Torpediniformes: Narcinidae) captured in the Gulf of California, and a phylogenetic analysis of and key to species of taeniacanthodes.

Taeniacanthodes dojirii n. sp. (Copepoda: Poecilostomatoida: Taeniacanthidae) is described from adult female specimens collected from the body surface of Cortez electric rays Narcine entemedor (Torpediniformes, Narcinidae), captured at several locations in the Gulf of California. Taeniacanthodes dojirii is distinguished from its congeners, as well as from other members of Taeniacanthidae, by possessing unimerous fifth legs. A cladistic analysis of the 3 known species of Taeniacanthodes resulted in a single most parsimonious tree (tree length = 18 steps, consistency index = 1) demonstrating that T. gracilis and T. haakeri, both parasites of benthic teleosts, are more closely related to each other than to the new species.