Ligophorus abditus n. sp. (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) and other species of Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977 infecting the flathead grey mullet Mugil cephalus L. in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea.

As a result of the re-examination of museum slides and new material of monogeneans collected from Mugil cephalus L. in the Sea of Japan, the estuary of a river which flows into the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea (off Zhifu, at the boundary of the Bohai Sea) and the East China Sea (off the Ryukyu Islands), five species of Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977 were identified, one of which is new. The known species are L. chabaudi Euzet & Suriano, 1977, L. cheleus Rubtsova, Balbuena & Sarabeev, 2007, L. domnichi Rubtsova, Balbuena & Sarabeev, 2007 and L. pacificus Rubtsova, Balbuena & Sarabeev, 2007, which are reported from the Yellow Sea; in addition, L. domnichi is reported for the first time from the East China Sea. Ligophorus abditus n. sp., from the Sea of Japan, differs from its most similar congeners, L. pacificus and L. domnichi, in the shapes of the dorsal anchors and the accessory piece of the male copulatory organ. A comparison of all of the species of Ligophorus recovered from M. cephalus in the Sea of Japan was carried out using Principal Component Analysis, and their distribution and origin are discussed.