The study of the gill parasite monogeneans of twenty specimens of Clarotes laticeps (Rüppell, 1829) (Siluriformes, Claroteidae) caught with gillnets in the Bagoué River (Côte d’Ivoire) revealed the presence of two new monogeneans species of the genus Protoancylodiscoides Paperna, 1969: Protoancylodiscoides essetchii n. sp. and Protoancylodiscoides ivoiriensis n. sp. These new species are different from the other Protoancylodiscoides species already described mainly in the morphology of the copulatory organ for P. essetchii n. sp. and the morphology of the dorsal and ventral anchors for P. ivoiriensis n. sp. P. essetchii n. sp. differs from P. mansourensis El-Naggar, 1987, P. auratum Bassock Bayiha, Nack & Pariselle, 2016, P. combesi Bassock Bayiha, Nack & Pariselle, 2016 and P. valentini Bassock Bayiha, Nack & Pariselle, 2017: 1) the filiform penis is much shorter in P. essetchii n. sp. (154.4 vs 325, 180, 228, 482 µm respectively in P. mansourensis, P. Auratum, P. combesi and P. valentini); and 2) the vagina, generally V-shaped in P. essetchii n. sp., is open distally. Vagina has a single turn in its proximal part vs multiple turns in P. mansourensis (4 à 5), P. combesi (2 à 3) and P. valentini (3 à 4). Protoancylodiscoides ivoiriensis n. sp. differs from all its congeners previously described in this genus, mainly by the morphology of the dorsal and ventral anchors and the non-existence of medial-dorsal onchium and medial-ventral onchium in the haptor. The very large dorsal anchors do not have a curved guard in the terminal part. The ventral anchors, unlike the other species already described in this genus, are characterized by a long guard and a well differentiated long shaft.
Monogenea, Protoancylodiscoides, Africa, Clarotes, new species