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.