New species of Demidospermus (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae) of pimelodid catfish (Siluriformes) from Peruvian Amazonia and the reassignment of Urocleidoides lebedevi Kritsky and Thatcher, 1976.

Three new species of Demidospermus Suriano, 1983 were found in mixed infections on the gills of 4 pimelodid catfish collected in the Amazon River basin around Iquitos, Peru, namely, Demidospermus peruvianus n. sp. from Pimelodus ornatus Kner, Pimelodus blochii Valenciennes, Pimelodus sp. (type host), and an unidentified pimelodid. Demidospermus peruvianus n. sp. (type host, Pimelodus sp.) is characterized by the presence of the male copulatory organ with 2 lateral, thickened projections, and the vagina with a loop at its middle. Demidospermus curvovaginatus n. sp. from P. ornatus , Pimelodus sp. (type host), and Pimelodidae gen. sp. differs from its congeners by the presence of a funnel-shaped vagina directed posteriorly and a male copulatory organ with a small lateral projection at its base. Demidospermus striatus n. sp. from P. blochii and Pimelodus sp. (type host) is distinguished by a cup-shaped vagina with conspicuous ridges at the perimeter of the aperture with a short tube directed anteriorly. In addition, Urocleidoides lebedevi Kritsky and Thatcher, 1976 , a parasite originally described from the gills of Pimelodus grosskopfii (type host) from Colombia, is transferred to Demidospermus , based on morphological characters that we observed in type specimens.