Cystoopsis atractostei n. sp. (Nematoda: Cystoopsidae) from the subcutaneous tissue of the tropical gar, Atractosteus tropicus (Pisces), in Mexico.

A new species of parasitic nematode, Cystoopsis atractostei (Trichinelloidea: Cystoopsidae), is described based on female specimens recovered from the subcutaneous tissue of the tropical gar, Atractosteus tropicus Gill (Lepisosteiformes: Lepisosteidae), from 2 localities (Canal Nueva Esperanza and Canal Tabasquillo) of the Pantanos de Centla Biological Reserve, State of Tabasco, southeastern Mexico, collected in April 2001. The total prevalence was 13%, and the mean intensity of infection was 1 nematode per fish. The new species differs from females of the only other adequately described congeneric species, C. acipenseris Wagner, 1867, mainly in possessing a bulbous inflation at the anterior end of the muscular esophagus, the vulva situated well posterior to the nerve ring, smooth cuticle, and in the shape of the posterior vesicular portion of the body (markedly transversely oval) in the largest specimens. Both species also differ in their host types (Lepisosteiformes vs. Acipenseriformes) and in geographical distribution (tropical southern Mexico vs. temperate zones of the Holarctic).