four species of Digeneans (Trematoda, Opecoelidae) of the gilthead seabream Sparus aurata (teleostei, Sparidae) off the Algerian coast in the Mediterranean Sea

A study was conducted between May 2020 and April 2022 in an attempt to investigate the diversity of digeneans infecting the digestive tract of the gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata (Linnaeus, 1758) (Sparidae) off the Algerian coast. Four species belonging to the family Opecoelidae Ozaki, 1925, were collected: Macvicaria obovata (Molin, 1859) Bartoli, Bray & Gibson, 1989; Macvicaria maillardi Bartoli, Bray & Gibson, 1989; Bartoli & Gibson, 2007; Macvicaria maamouriae Antar, Georgieva, Gargouri & Kostadinova, 2015 and Allopodocotyle pedicellata (Stossich, 1887) Pritchard, 1966. Algeria is a new
geographical record for M. obovata and A. pedicellata, whereas M. maillardi has already been reported on the Algerian coast, but not from its type host S. aurata. We provide a redescription of these species based on newly collected specimens, which were identified using only morphological features such as the distribution of vitelline follicles and uterus, the position and shape of the cirrus sac, and the presence or absence of the metraterm.