Two new species of Protomicrocotyle Johnston & Tiegs, 1922 (Monogenea: Protomicrocotylidae) parasites of Caranx hippos (Linnaeus, 1776) (Carangiformes: Carangidae), from Tecolutla, Veracruz, Mexico.

Two new species of Protomicrocotyle are described as parasites of the gill filaments of Caranx hippos from the Gulf of Mexico coast, characterized using morphological, morphometric, and molecular methods. Multivariate statistics (principal component and discriminant analyses) were used for the morphometric analyses. Pairwise genetic distances (p-distances) and cluster analyses using the Neighbor-joining method were performed using partial sequences of CO1 mtDNA and 28S rDNA of the new species and partial sequences of other species of Protomicrocotylidae from GenBank. Protomicrocotyle eamsae sp. nov. differs morphologically from other congeners by the presence of a retractile glandulomuscular organ in the prohaptor, and Protomicrocotyle pritchardae sp. nov. differs from other congeners by the body length and by the arrangement, shape, and number of testes. The new species was recovered as a distinct group, separate from other protomicrocotylids, based on CO1 mtDNA and 28S rDNA analyses. The results of the morphometric analysis of 91 morphological variables and the molecular analysis support the assignment of the new species to Protomicrocotyle in Caranx hippos from Tecolutla, Veracruz, Mexico.