Evolutionary history of host-specific Dactylogyrus parasites (Monogenea) in the selected regions of peri-Mediterranean
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| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Parasite genus Dactylogyrus is generally known for the remarkable species diversity and high level of host-specificity. The high number of species (more than 900) the most probably emerged from the multitude of the host species, belonging to Cyprinidae, the largest freshwater fish family. Due to the high host-specificity we can expect that evolutionary history of Dactylogyrus is intimately linked with the phylogeny of the cyprinids and reflects their biogeography and historical dispersion. Dactylogyrus parasites were collected over years 2014 to 2018 from endemic cyprinids in the selected peri-Mediterranean regions. In total, representatives of 113 cyprinid species belonging to 24 genera were processed. 93 of all investigated host species were parasitized by Dactylogyrus. From 69 identified Dactylogyrus species 18 were potentially new for science (including D. omenti sp. n. collected from Aulopyge huegelii). The highest Dactylogyrus species diversity was found in the representatives of the Barbus, Chondrostoma, Luciobarbus, Rutilus and Squalius genera. The phylogenetic reconstruction based on sequence data of partial ribosomal SSU combined with partial ribosomal LSU revealed several strongly supported groups within Dactylogyrus of Southern European Peninsulas and suggest multiple origin of the Dactylogyrus in Iberian Peninsula. The results of phylogenetic analyses combined with the computation of genetic distances and application of Mantel test revealed that however, the geographically adjacent populations are more similar also on molecular level, the recent distribution of the Dactylogyrus species is highly influenced by introduction of non-native cyprinid species into new regions. Applying cophylogenetic methods we found the significant coevolutionary signal between phylogenies of endemic Balkan and Apennine Dactylogyrus and their cyprinid hosts. Strong evolutionary link was detected between D. vistulae and its respective hosts what suggest that host-switch played important role in the evolutionary history of Dactylogyrus. |
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