Phylogenetic assessment of some Palearctic Allocreadium spp. (Trematoda, Gorgoderoidea: Allocreadiidae).

The genus Allocreadium is a group of digenetic trematodes whose adult representatives mainly parasitize the intestines of freshwater fishes. The aim of this research is to reconstruct the phylogeny of four Palearctic species of this genus, Allocreadium dogieli, Allocreadium isoporum, Allocreadium papilligerum, and Allocreadium sp. ex Oreoleuciscus potanini from Mongolia. The DNA sequences of the 28S rRNA gene and the rDNA ITS2 region were obtained and then analyzed for phylogenetic inference. The analysis is complemented with the morphological descriptions for all four species. Phylogenetic analyses show that the newly obtained isolate of A. isoporum appeared to be genetically similar to previously obtained isolates of A. isoporum. Allocreadium dogieli probably belongs to the same evolutionary lineage of Allocreadium as A. crassum, while A. papilligerum to the same evolutionary lineage as Alocreadium transversale ex Cobitis taenia from Lithuania, but the detailed species composition of these lineages requires further elucidation. Allocreadium sp. was genetically close to Allocreadium sp. ex P. phoxinus from Primorski Krai, Russia, and a group of these Allocreadium had a sister relationship with Allocreadium khankaiensis. Our findings contradict some recent hypotheses about the phylogeography of Allocreadium spp.

New record of Tylodelphys metacercariae (Diplostomidae) from Perccottus glenii (Odontobutidae) and their phylogenetic assessment.

Metacercariae of Tylodelphys sp. were found in the abdominal cavity of the Chinese sleeper (Perccottus glenii) collected in Liaoning Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. The sequences of the mitochondrial cox1 gene and ribosomal ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2 region were obtained and used for molecular identification and phylogenetic assessment of this parasite species. Results of phylogenetic analyses based on ITS and cox1 markers showed that the metacercariae of Tylodelphys sp. ex P. glenii from China were conspecific with specimens of Tylodelphys sp. collected by Sokolov et al. (2013) from the same fish-host species captured earlier in West Siberia, Russia. The examined Tylodelphys sp. ex. P. glenii is the only member of the genus whose metacercariae parasitise the abdominal cavity of fish in northern Eurasia. Tylodelphys sp. ex P. glenii clustered with T. darbyi, T. immer, T. podicipina, and Tylodelphys sp. of Soldánová et al., 2017 based on mitochondrial DNA markers, and with T. darbyi, T. immer, T. kuerepus, and T. schreuringi using nuclear DNA markers.

Morphological and molecular differentiation of Diplostomum spp. metacercariae from brain of minnows (Phoxinus phoxinus L.) in four populations of northern Europe and East Asia.

Metacercariae of trematodes from the genus Diplostomum are major helminth pathogens of freshwater fish, infecting the eye or the brain. The taxonomy of the genus Diplostomum is complicated, and has recently been based mainly on the molecular markers. In this study, we report the results of the morphological and molecular genetic analysis of diplostomid metacercaria from the brain of the minnow Phoxinus phoxinus from three populations in Fennoscandia (Northern Europe) and one population in Mongolia (East Asia). We obtained the data on the polymorphism of the partial mitochondrial cox1 gene and ribosomal ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of these parasites. РСА-based morphological analysis revealed that the parasites in the Asian and the European groups of Diplostomum sp. were distinctly different. Metacercariae from the brain of Mongolian minnows were much larger than those from the brain of Fennoscandian minnows but had much fewer excretory granules. Considering that the two study regions were separated by a distance of about 4500 km, we also tested the genetic homogeneity of their host, the minnow, using the mitochondrial cytb gene. It was shown that Diplostomum-infected minnows from Mongolia and Fennoscandia represented two previously unknown separate phylogenetic lineages of the genus Phoxinus. Both molecular and morphological analysis demonstrated that the parasites from Fennoscandia belonged the species Diplostomum phoxini, while the parasites from Mongolia belonged to a separate species, Diplostomum sp. MТ.Each of the two studied Diplostomum spp. was associated with a specific, and previously unknown, genealogical lineage of its second intermediate host, P. phoxinus.

First Description of the Metacercaria of Nematostrigea serpens serpens (Nitzsch, 1819) (Trematoda, Strigeidae) and Phylogenetic Affiliation of Nematostrigea vietnamiensis Zhokhov & Mishina, 2011.

BACKGROUND: The genus Nematostrigea comprises trematodes parasitising in fish-eating birds of Europe, Africa, and North America. Their life cycle is unknown. PURPOSE: To provide the first description of metacercariae of Nematostrigea serpens serpens, a nominative subspecies of the type species of Nematostrigea, and to record metacercaria of Nematostrigea vietnamiensis, with molecular data. METHODS: Encysted metacercariae of N. serpens serpens and N. vietnamiensis were collected from fish in Russia and Vietnam, respectively, and were processed, identified, and documented using standard morphological techniques. The 28S rRNA gene of metacercariae of both species and the cox1 gene of metacercariae an earlier studied adult of N. serpens serpens were sequenced and used for phylogenetic analysis. RESULTS: Metacercaria of N. serpens serpens have a spatulate body with a foliate forebody and a short hindbody, two long lateral rectilinear pseudosuckers, and the holdfast organ with bifurcated anterior and entire posterior external lobes. The analysis of the cox1and 28S rRNA gene sequences unequivocally showed the conspecificity of metacercariae and adult stage of N. serpens serpens. Based on the 28S rRNA gene sequence-based phylogenetic analysis, the genus Nematostrigea is a sister taxon to the group of strigeid genera Cotylurus + Ichthyocotylurus. Morphological and phylogenetic data demonstrated that N. vietnamiensis does not belong to the genus Nematostrigea and is possibly be affiliated with the crassiphialine trematodes. CONCLUSION: This is the first record of metacercariae of N. serpens serpens. N. vietnamiensis, renamed Prodiplostomulum vietnamiense comb. nov., must be moved to the crassiphialine 'Prodiplostomulum'-type metacercariae group.

Nematodes in the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758) and the common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula Linnaeus, 1758) (Anatidae) from Northern Europe.

There are first data on nematodes of Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 (mallard) and Bucephala clangula Linnaeus, 1758 (common goldeneye) from Northern Europe (Ladoga Lake region). The ducks were found to be infected with nine nematode species. A. platyrhynchos hosted eight nematode species and B. clangula was host to four nematode species. All species except Capillaria anatis were found in the region for the first time. Nematodes Amidostomum acutum, Streptocara crassicauda, and Tetrameres fissispina parasitized on both hosts and were the most abundant. The biggest number of parasites revealed was biohelminths with a direct life cycle.