Chimaerocestos prudhoeigen. et sp. nov., representing a new family of tetraphyllideans and the first record of strobilate tapeworms from a holocephalan

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Chimaerocestos prudhoeigen. et sp. nov. fromRhinochimaera atlanticain the North Atlantic off north-eastern Scotland represents a new family, the Chimaerocestidae, of tetraphyllideans and is the first record of a strobilate tapeworm from a holocephalan. The main taxonomic features are described and figured along with aspects of the ecology and mode of attachment to the gut mucosa. The lobed annular ovary and distribution of the vitellarium in two fields are characteristic features. About 15 eggs are deposited together in capsules.C. prudhoeiis discussed in relation to other unusual fish tapeworms and the evolutionary biology of tapeworms, and to our scant knowledge of the holocephalans.