Morphological and molecular characterization of larval trematodes infecting the assassin snail genus Anentome in Thailand.

The assassin snail genus Anentome is widespread in Southeast Asia, and is distributed all over the world via the aquarium trade. One species of genus Anentome, Anentome helena, is known to act as intermediate host of parasitic trematodes. This study investigates the taxonomic diversity of larval trematodes infecting A. helena and Anentome wykoffi in Thailand. Larval trematodes were identified by combining morphological and DNA sequence data (cytochrome c oxidase I and internal transcribed spacer 2). Species delimitation methods were used to explore larval trematode species boundaries. A total of 1107 specimens of Anentome sp. were collected from 25 localities in Thailand. Sixty-two specimens of A. helena (n = 33) and A. wykoffi (n = 29) were infected by zoogonid cercariae, heterophyid metacercariae and echinostome metacercariae, with an overall prevalence of 5.6% (62/1107) and population-level prevalences in the range of 0.0-22.3%. DNA sequence data confirmed that the larval trematodes belong to the families Echinostomatidae, Heterophyidae and Zoogonidae. As such, this is the first report of zoogonid cercariae and heterophyid metacercariae in A. helena, and echinostome metacercariae in A. wykoffi. Moreover, this study provides evidence of tentative species-level differentiation between Thai Echinostoma sp. and Cambodian Echinostoma mekongi, as well as within Echinostoma caproni, Echinostoma trivolvis and Echinostoma revolutum.

Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Haplorchoides Mehrai Pande and Shukla 1976 (Digenea: Heterophyidae) from Chiang Mai Province.

Cyprinoid fish in Chiang Mai province has been reported the presence of a large number of metacercariae, particularly the metacercariae of Haplorchoides and those not identified to species. This study aims to investigate morphological and molecular characteristic of the minute intestinal fluke H. mehrai metacercariae in two cyprinoid fish species from Chom Thong district, Chiang Mai province, Thailand: the Tinfoil barb (Barbonymus schwanenfeldii) and the White eye barb (Cyclocheilichthys repasson). A total of 180 fish (90 from B. schwanenfeldii and 90 from C. repasson) were collected over three seasons: cool, hot and the rainy season (December 2015 to August 2016). Fish were examined for H. mehrai metacercariae infection, including areas such as muscle and the inner side of body scales, by using a light microscope. The prevalence of H. mehrai metacercariae in B. schwanenfeldii and C. repasson was 73.33 % and 100 % respectively. Haplorchoides metacercariae were identified as H. mehrai based on the morphological characteristics; the position of the acetabulum and the number and arrangement of the acetabular spines. Phylogenetic analysis based on Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I (COI) gene showed that H. mehrai metacercariae from B. schwanenfeldii and C. repasson were the same species as the adult stage of H. mehrai from Hemibagrus nemurus and Mystus multiradiatus. Both morphological and molecular characteristic could indicate that Haplorchoides metacercariae originated from this study were H. mehrai. Furthermore, it is a new record of the minute intestinal fluke Haplorchoides mehrai in Chiang Mai Province.