Evolution and diversification of cichlid parasites
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| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | African freshwater fish of Cichlidae are parasitized by five genera of monogeneans belonging to the Dactylogyridea (Cichlidogyrus, Scutogyrus, Onchobdella, Enterogyrus and Urogyrus). Cichlidogyrus is the most diverse genus of monogeneans parasitizing cichlid fish distributed among a wide range of cichlid species. Scutogyrus species are restricted to mouthbrooders of the genus Sarotherodon and Oreochromis. The objectives of this study were to perform phylogenetic analyses of monogeneans parasitizing cichlid fish in West Africa based on ribosomal DNA sequences, to investigate phylogenetic relationships within West African cichlid fish based on mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences and to assess host-parasite cophylogenetic history and reveal the presence of host-parasite cospeciation. All phylogenetic analyses showed the monophyletic origin of the Cichlidogyrus/Scutogyrus group, and suggested that Cichlidogyrus is polyphyletic and Scutogyrus is monophyletic. The phylogeny of Cichlidae supported the separation of mouthbrooders and substrate-brooders and is consistent with the hypothesis that the mouthbrooding behavior of Oreochromis and Sarotherodon evolved from substrate-brooding behavior. The cophylogenetic analyses indicated a significant fit between host and parasite phylogenetic trees using distance-based methods, but no significant cospeciation signal was found using tree-based methods, which suggests the presence of parasite duplications and host switches on related host species. |
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