Title: Dactylogyrids from African tetras - morphological and molecularanalyses
Abstract: African tetras (Characiformes: Alestidae) are known to harbor
monogenean species belonging to three dactylogyrid genera, i.e.
Annulotrema (39 species), Characidotrema (10 species) and
Afrocleidodiscus (1 species). Our survey of monogeneans found
on the gills of 4 species (3 genera, i.e. Alestes, Hydrocynus
and Brycinus) of tetras from Lake Turkana, Kenya, revealed the
presence of four new and four previously described species of
Annulotrema: A. alestesnursi Paperna, 1973 (from Brycinus
nurse); A. ansatum n. sp., A. besalis Řehulkova, Musilova and
Gelnar, 2014, A. bipatens n. sp., A. cucullatum n. sp., A. nili
Paperna, 1973, and A. pontile n. sp. (from Hydrocynus
forskahlii); and A. elongata Paperna and Thurston, 1969 (from
Alestes baremoze and Alestes dentex). Annulotrema elongata was
re-described on the basis of new material from A. baremoze.
Hydrocynus forskahlii was found as a new host for A. besalis.
The findings of A. besalis and A. elongata in Kenya represent a
new locality records for these helminths [1]. During taxonomic
evaluation of monogeneans collected from the gills of
Hydrocynus vittatus from Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, 4 species of
Annulotrema and 1 species of Afrocleidodiscus were found. Three
of the dactylogyrid species are probably new to science [2].
Morphological analysis of sclerotized structures of the
Annulotrema species examined suggests that there are at least 3
morpho-groups within these parasites, with regard to the basic
structure of the male copulatory organ (MCO). The division into
three groups based on morphological criterions was also
supported by the results of the phylogenetic analysis using 28S
rDNA sequences [3] (Fig.1). However, a wider range of sampling
from other species of the Allestidae will be needed to evaluate
the phylogenetic importance of the morphology of the MCO in
order to elucidating relationships among species within
dactylogyrids parasitizing African tetras. 2. Kicinjaova, ML,
Řehulkova, E. 2014: Dactylogyrids (Monogenea) parasitizing
African tetras (Characiformes: Alestidae) in Zimbabwe. 21.
Helminthological days, Straž nad Nežarkou – Dvorce. ISBN
978-80-210-6796-7 [poster]. 3. Kicinjaova, ML, Seifertova, M,
Řehulkova, E. 2015: Annulotrema (Platyhelminthes: Monogenea)
from African tetras (Characiformes: Alestidae) in Lake Turkana,
Kenya: morphometric and molecular analyses. 9th International
Symposium on Fish Parasites, Valencia, Spain. [oral
presentation].
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-11-23
Language: en
Type: article
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