Hidden diversity of gyrodactylid parasites on cichlids in Zambezi and Limpopo River basin. International Conference on Parasites of Wildlife
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| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Citation | |
| Description | In order to understand the diversity of viviparous mononegeans parasitizing in southern Africa, various cichlids were collected during 2011-2012 in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Viviparous monogenean of the genus Gyrodactylus Nordmann, 1832 were recorded and found on Oreochromis niloticus, Pharyngochromis acuticeps, Pseudocrenilabrus philander, Tilapia rendalii, Tilapia sparrmanii and Tilapia sp. Species identification based on haptoral sclerites morphometry and nuclear rDNA internal trascribed spacer (ITS) sequences identified the presence of of 11 Gyrodactylus species, of which three are currently known, i.e. Gyrodactylus nyanzae Paperna, 1973, Gyrodactylus sturmbaueri Vanhove, Snoeks, Volckeart &Huyse, 2011 and G. yacatli García-Vásquez, Hansen, Christison, Bron & Shinn, 2011. This study brings the first record of G. yacatli, found on O. niloticus and P. philander, in Africa. Identification of eight new species of Gyrodactylus is indicative of high diversity of these parasites in the southern region of the continent. Based on the shape of the haptoral sclerites complex, the species studied were divided into 5 morphological groups distinguishable according to the dimensions of haptoral hard parts or shape of marginal hook sickles. With the use of canonical discriminative analyses (CDA) Gyrodactylus species were separated into distinguishable morphological groups. Phylogenetic analyses, the maximum likelihood and Bayesian interference analyses, assisted in revealing interspecific relationships. The formation of clusters of particular species was in the agreement with morphological divisions into groups. |
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