Urogonimus turdi (Digenea: Leucochloridiidae) from the White’s Thrush, Zoothera aurea, in the Republic of Korea

ABSTRACT

Avian trematodes, Urogonimus turdi (Digenea: Leucochloridiidae), were collected from the intestine of wild birds, Zoothera aurea, 2013–2017 in the Daejeon Metropolitan City, Korea. The body was ellipsoidal, attenuated and/or round ends, 1,987–2,120 long and 819–831 μm wide. The oral sucker was subterminal, rounded anteriorly, and 308–425×351–432 μm in size; the prepharynx and esophagus were almost lacking; pharynx was well-developed, 142–179×78–170 μm in size; intestine narrow, bifurcating just after pharynx, ascending to the oral sucker before looping posteriorly and terminating near the posterior end; ventral sucker larger, in almost median, 536–673×447–605 μm and approximately 1.5 times larger than oral sucker. A phylogenetic tree constructed with 18S ribosomal RNA showed inter- and intraspecific relationships. Based on these morphological and molecular findings, we report here a U. turdi from White’s thrushes in Korea.