Combined morphological and molecular analyses are employed to characterise three species of Tergestia Stossich, 1899 (Digenea: Fellodistomidae) from fishes of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Tergestia clonacantha Manter, 1963 is reported here for the first time from the halfbeak (Beloniformes: Hemiramphidae) species Arrhamphus sclerolepis krefftii (Steindachner), Hyporhamphus australis (Steindachner), H. quoyi (Valenciennes) and H. regularis ardelio (Whitley). Two new species, both infecting trevally (Perciformes: Carangidae) species, are described: T. maryae n. sp. from Alepes apercna Grant and T. henryi n. sp. from Pantolabus radiatus (MacLeay). Complete ITS2 and partial 28S ribosomal DNA data were generated for each of the new taxa. The three species differ from each other by 47–58 base pairs (bp) in the ITS2 rDNA region. Phylogenetic analysis of 28S rDNA supports Tergestia as a reliable generic concept, with our analyses showing that some species of the genus form a well-supported clade to the exclusion of all other fellodistomids for which sequence data are available. |
