A new species of Cotylaspis (Aspidogastrea: Cotylaspidinae), parasite of the African mud turtle Pelusios castaneus and Pelusios sp. (Testudines: Pelomedusidae) from South-Western Nigeria

In this paper we describe Cotylaspis nigeriensis sp. n., parasite of the African mud turtle, Pelusios castaneus Schweiger, 1812 and Pelusios sp. from Ondo State, South-Western Nigeria. The new species is distinguished from the eight previously described species by the body size, number of alveoli in the adhesive disc, size of the testis, among other features. It is distinguished from C. lenoiri Poirier, 1886 its African counterpart by host differences; C. lenoiri parasitizes the Senegal soft shell turtle Cyclanorbis senegalensis Duméril and Bibron, 1835 in Senegal and the African soft shell turtle Trionyx triunguis Forskål, 1775 in Egypt. Cotylaspis nigeriensis sp. n. like the type species C. insignis Leidy, 1857, C. malayensis Rohde, 1963 and C. parasinensis Belous, 1963 has 29 alveoli in the adhesive disc (20 peripheral and 9 median) as against C. cokeri Barker and Parsons, 1914 which has 32, C. coreensis Cheo et Seo, 1977 and C. sinensis Faust and Tang, 1936 which have 27, C. lenoiri Poirier, 1886 with 25, and C. stunkardi Rumbold, 1928 with 50 alveoli. Cotylapsis nigeriensis sp. n. is the second species from Africa and the ninth globally.