Pseudorhabdosynochus hirundineus n. sp. (Monogenea: Diplectanidae) from Variola louti (Perciformes: Serranidae) off New Caledonia.

Pseudorhabdosynochus hirundineus n. sp. is described from specimens collected from the gills of Variola louti off Nouméa, New Caledonia, South Pacific. No diplectanid was found on V. albimarginata from the same location. The male sclerotised quadriloculate organ of P. hirundineus is 42 microm in internal length, with a long posterior tube; and the sclerotised vagina, 36 microm in length, is composed of a long tube with anterior open trumpet and two posterior, heavily sclerotised chambers. The two squamodiscs, each with 11-15 rows of rodlets and no central closed row of rodlets, are dissimilar in shape, the ventral being round and the dorsal being oval. By the morphology of its sclerotised vagina, P. hirundineus appears close to P. epinepheli (Yamaguti, 1938) but it is differentiated from it by the shape of its squamodiscs. Pseudorhabdosynochus spp. previously recorded from epinephelines are parasites of species of Epinephelus and Mycteroperca; this is the first species from a species of Variola.