Backtracking the historical dispersion of peri-Mediterranean cyprinoids using host-specific Dactylogyrus parasites as a helpful guide
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Introduction Monogeneans and their fish hosts represent one of the best models for studying host-parasite evolutionary relationships using cophylogenetic approach. These parasites developed remarkably high host specificity, where each host species often harbour its own host-specific monogenean species. Herein, we focused on the host-parasite system of Dactylogyrus (gill ectoparasites) and their cyprinoid hosts in the peri-Mediterranean region. Dactylogyrus parasites were collected from cyprinoid fish hosts in peri-Mediterranean region. For the phylogenetic analyses, four genetic markers were used to assess the evolutionary history in Dactylogyrus. The complete mtDNA cytochrome b gene was sequenced for the cyprinoids. For the cophylogenetic analyses, dual-based approach was employed: distance-based and event-based methods. Fifteen new species were described in the peri-Mediterranean region. The phylogenetic analyses divided circum-Mediterranean Dactylogyrus into four divergent lineages. Although the relationships within lineages were not always fully resolved, subsequent mapping of the haptoral characters into phylogeny helped to shed more light on diversification processes. Cophylogenetic methods revealed a strong coevolutionary structure between phylogenies of Dactylogyrus and their respective cyprinoid hosts in a peri-Mediterranean area with host switch as a common coevolutionary event. The overall diversity of Dactylogyrus appears to be underexplored, even in the regions like Mediterranean Europe or Anatolia. Our data suggest that continental bridges connecting southern Europe and North Africa played a crucial role in the dispersion of cyprinoids, and also affected the distribution of their host-specific gill parasites. |
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