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Light micrographs of hard parts of specimen 1 (A, C, E) and specimen 2 (B, D, F) collected from Mugil liza Valenciennes in southern Brazil. A, B – ventral bar; C, D – sclerotised vagina; E, F – male copulatory complex. Abbreviations: AV – annulated vagina; MPVB – median process of the ventral bar; PAP – penis accessory piece.
Source publication
Representatives of Ligophorus Euzet et Suriano, 1977 were found on the gills of Mugil liza Valenciennes caught in southern Brazil. They were identified as Ligophorus uruguayense Failla Siquier et Ostrowski de Núñez, 2009 and Ligophorus saladensis Marcotegui et Martorelli, 2009, even though specific identification proved to be difficult due to incon...
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Background
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A new monogenean species, Ligophorus yucatanensis n. sp. from the gills of the flathead mullet Mugil cephalus from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, is described. The new species can be differentiated from all other species of Ligophorus by the morphology of the accessory piece of the copulatory organ. Its main lobe is cylindrical, tunnelled expanded...
Citations
... The digestion procedure, amplification, and sequencing protocols followed Andrade-Gómez et al. [12]. The domains D1-D3 of the large subunit of nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (28S) and sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacers rDNA (ITS1) were amplified via PCR using the primers: 391 5 [14]. Sequencing internal primers were 502 plus 503 for 28S [13,15]; and BD3 plus BD4 for ITS1 [16]. ...
... In fact, some authors have previously discussed the possibility that L. uruguayensis and L. saladensis represent a species complex along with L. mediterraneus due to low genetic divergence values among them. Marchiori et al. [5] reported that the genetic divergence between L. mediterraneus and L. saladensis was 0.1-0.2%, and 0.4-0.6%, for the 28S and ITS1, respectively. Our findings also suggest that L. mediterraneus and L. saladensis could represent the same genetic lineage (Table S1), although morphological hooklets and the accessory piece are shorter in L. saladensis than in L. mediterraneus, and the ventral bar and the vagina are longer [32]. ...
Background
Ligophorus Euzet and Suriano, 1977 is a specious genus of ancyrocephalid monogeneans parasitizing mullets around the world, with most species distributed in the western Pacific and the Mediterranean Sea. Only nine out of the 62 species in the genus have been reported from the Americas, and from them, only two have been sequenced.
Methods
We analyzed two species of Mugil (L.) from Northern Yucatán Peninsula. Specimens of Ligophorus were sampled from the gills of their hosts. The morphology of the specimens was examined. In addition, 28S and ITS rDNA sequences were obtained and compared with previous sequences downloaded from GenBank.
Results
We discovered two species of Ligophorus using morphological and molecular characters, L. mediterraneus , parasitizing the stripped mullet Mugil cephalus off the coast of Celestún, and L. yucatanensis , parasitizing the silver mullet M. curema in four coastal lagoons. Sequence data of the latter species are reported for the first time.
Conclusion
Our findings showed that two species of Ligophorus occur in mugilids of the Yucatán Peninsula. One represents a widely distributed marine species with records in the Mediterranean Sea and the Yucatán Peninsula, whereas the second one, L. yucatanensis , represents an endemic species restricted to coastal lagoons of the Yucatán Peninsula.
... The sheer detection of symbionts and the subsequent species identification, particularly when based on morphological characteristics, require considerable skills and expertise. Advanced imaging methods have been demonstrated to enable the morphological distinction of similar species of minute parasites-for example, confocal fluorescence microscopy (Marchiori et al. 2015) and scanning electron microscopy (Fannes et al. 2017) for fish-infecting dactylogyrid monogeneans. These techniques have also been explored, albeit to a very limited extent, for representatives of the same parasite family infecting cichlids of the Lake Tanganyika assemblage (Fannes et al. 2015;Cruz-Laufer 2023). ...
(Adaptive) radiations have attracted evolutionary biologists for a long time as ideal model systems to study patterns and processes of often rapid speciation. However, whereas a wealth of (sometimes already genome-scale) data is available for host radiations, very few studies target the patterns of diversification in their symbionts, even though they would be excellent models to study symbiont speciation. Our review summarizes what little is known about general patterns of symbiont diversification in often iconic adaptive host radiations and to what extent these patterns are dependent on the evolutionary trajectories of their hosts. We identify research gaps that need to be addressed in the future and discuss the potential of approaches not yet typically used in these study systems, such as epidemiological disease modeling and new omics technologies, for significantly advancing our understanding of these complex eco-evolutionary relationships.
... The indentified parasites were then placed in individually labelled Eppendorf® tubes containing 96% ethanol. Genetic analysis was performed at the GenSeq platform of the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of Montpellier, and PCR was performed following the method of Marchiori et al. (2015) (i.e. directly, without DNA extraction). ...
This work provides new molecular data on seven species representing three genera (Protoancylodiscoides, Schilbetrema and Synodontella) in the order Dactylogyridea. The results help to explain the origin of Synodontella spp. and to elucidate the phylogenetic position of Synodontella in relation to the other genera. The findings also highlight the importance of the haptoral elements in determing phylogenetic relationships between and within Dactylogyridea taxa, which are monogenean parasites of mostly cyprinid fishes in fresh water. A total of 36 catfish specimens representing five species in three genera (Synodontis, Schilbe and Chrysichthys) were collected from two rivers in Cameroon: the Sanaga River (at Edéa and Nachtigal, in the Littoral and Cental regions, respectively) and Boumba River (at Mang-kaka, East Region), and examined for gill parasites. The novel 28S rDNA sequences of seven species belonging to Dactylogyridea were obtained and their phylogenetic relationships inferred. Synodontella resulted as a monophyletic lineage; the samples obtained from the catfish in Cameroon were well-differentiated into two groups. Synodontella appears to be more closely related to Schilbetrema than to the other Dactylogyridea species investigated here. The shape of the ventral bar should be considered an important feature for distinguishing among Dactylogyridea genera. The existence of two or more lineages within the genus Synodontella, as suggested by previous morphological studies, is here molecularly confirmed, indicating speciation as likely an outcome of ecological influences or the phylogenetic relationships among parasites and/or hosts.
... Previous studies report effective action against infections and infestations caused by various pathogens in fish, including bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and metazoans [6][7][8]. Among the pathogens already recorded for mullet Mugil liza, ectoparasites from the class Monogenea (Platyhelminthes) predominate, infesting both the gills and the body surface [9][10][11][12][13], and these infections could be controlled using chemotherapeutics, such as H 2 O 2 . However, there are still no records in the literature of studies verifying the effects of antiparasitic treatments for this species. ...
The hematological parameters of fish contribute to the understanding of the health status in response to diseases, treatments, handling, and environmental factors. This study aimed to verify the hematological parameters of mullet Mugil liza after one-hour immersion baths in five concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), an effective chemical treatment for several diseases in fish. A total of 108 fish (35.25 ± 6.09g) was distributed into six treatments with three replicates each: untreated fish (control), and fish treated with five concentrations of H2O2 (150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 mg L-1). Blood collection was performed immediately after bathing and 30 days after. Erythrogram, leukogram, thrombocytogram, hematocrit, plasma glucose, hemoglobin concentration and hematimetric indexes were analyzed. There was no significant difference in the erythrocyte and total leukocyte counts. Regarding plasma glucose and hematimetric indexes, the values were increased (p<0.05), except for mean corpuscular volume (MCV), that was decreased (p<0.05) after bath, including control. These responses may be associated to stress from handling and bathing procedure. In fish treated with H2O2, the number of thrombocytes and lymphocytes was lower (p<0.05) immediately after bath, while neutrophils and monocytes showed increased (p<0.05) values immediately after bath, which indicates adverse effects due to H2O2; however, these effects seem to be reversible after 30 days of recovery. The findings indicate that the exposure of M. liza juveniles to baths of 1 hour with up to 350 mg L-1 is safe, without significant risks in causing adverse physiological effects.
... Monogeneans of Ligophorus Euzet et Suriano, 1977 are specific gill parasites of fish from the family Mugilidae Jarocki, 1822. The genus currently includes 66 nominal species (Euzet & Suriano, 1977;Dmitrieva et al., 2007Dmitrieva et al., , 2012Dmitrieva et al., , 2013aAbdallah et al., 2009;Soo & Lim, 2012El Hafidi et al., 2013a, b;Kritsky et al., 2013;Sarabeev et al., 2013;Marchiori et al., 2015;Rodríguez-González et al., 2015a, 2015bKhang et al., 2016;Pakdee et al., 2018). Identification of Ligophorus species is based mainly on the morphology of hard structures of the haptor and the distal parts of the female and male reproductive systems (Euzet & Suriano, 1977;Sarabeev et al., 2013). ...
... Many species are very morphologically similar to each other, creating difficulties for delimitation of species (Euzet & Suriano, 1977;Dmitrieva et al., 2007Dmitrieva et al., , 2013a. Some of them were distinguished on the basis of DNA sequence data (Marchiori et al., 2015;Pakdee et al., 2018). However, these data are discrete or insufficient, representing 127 sequences of the different parts of the nuclear DNA ribosomal cluster for only 32 species (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore), ...
Ligophorus kaohsianghsieni (Gusev, 1962) Gusev, 1985 was collected from the so-iuy mullet Planiliza haematocheilus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845) from the Black Sea and the Sea of Japan. DNA sequences data for L. kaohsianghsieni , as well as its morphological characters from the Sea of Japan were obtained for the first time. Significant morphometric and genetic diversity between specimens of L. kaohsianghsieni from the Black-Azov Sea region and the Sea of Japan were not found. For the first time, the molecular phylogeny of L. kaohsianghsieni based on three fragments of the nuclear DNA ribosomal cluster (18S, internal transcribed spacer 1 and 28S) was reconstructed. Molecular analysis of Ligophorus species from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans revealed a significant phylogenetic distance between L. kaohsianghsieni and two others species ( Ligophorus pilengas and Ligophorus llewellyni ) from the same host ( P. haematocheilus ) and region. This result indicates the lack of correspondence between the phylogenetic and geographical closeness of the hosts and the relation of their parasites from the genus Ligophorus .
... After identification, each parasite was placed individually in an Eppendorf Ò tube containing 95% alcohol. PCR was performed on these specimens according to Marchiori et al. [23], directly without DNA extraction. Standard PCR was performed using primers specific to the D1-D2 domain of the large subunit region (LSU) of the 28S ribosomal gene: C1 (forward; 5 0 -AC-CCGCTGAATTTAAGCAT -3 0 ) and D2 (reverse; 5 0 -TGGTCCGTGTTTCAAGAC -3 0 ) [15]. ...
Recently in Cameroon, two species belonging to Quadriacanthus : Q. anaspidoglanii Akoumba, Tombi & Bilong Bilong, 2017 and Q. euzeti Nack, Pariselle & Bilong Bilong, 2016 have been recorded on gill filaments of Notoglanidium macrostoma (Siluriformes, Claroteidae) in the Memou’ou River (Nyong Basin) and Papyrocranus afer (Osteoglossiformes, Notopteridae) in Lake Ossa, respectively. These records have been considered the result of lateral transfers from Clariidae to a Claroteidae host for the first case (parasitism of N . macrostoma by Q . anaspidoglanii ) and from Clariidae or Bagridae to a Notopteridae host for the second (parasitism of P . afer by Q . euzeti ). In this paper, the investigation of interspecific relationships among Quadriacanthus spp. parasitizing Clariidae, Bagridae, Claroteidae and Notopteridae in Cameroon resulted in the record of Q. anaspidoglanii from N . macrostoma , Q . euzeti from P. afer , a new record of Q . levequei Birgi, 1988 from Clarias jaensis in the Nyong River, and the description of Q . barombiensis n. sp. from Clarias maclareni in Lake Barombi Mbo. The newly identified species is characterized by having an accessory piece ending in one small hook and the median expansion of its dorsal bar with two filaments. Phylogenetic analysis based on 28S rDNA sequences confirms that the Quadriacanthus spp. parasitizing gill filaments of non-clariid hosts in Cameroon originate from lateral transfers from clariid fishes, and that Clariidae are ancestral hosts of these monogenean species.
... Since then, more studies have incorporated molecular data of Ligophorus spp. from different locations (such as Brazil, Malaysia and Thailand), aiming to confirm morphological placement, describe new species, examine phenotypic plasticity, or compare the congruence between morphological characters and phylogenetic trees (Sarabeev and Desdevises 2014;Marchiori et al. 2015;Rodríguez-González et al. 2015;Khang et al. 2016;Pakdee et al. 2019). ...
... The phylogenetic relationships of Ligophorus spp. recovered in the present study for both molecular markers (28S and ITS1) were similar to the results of previous studies, showing a strongly supported sister relationship between L. minimus and L. acuminatus (see Blasco-Costa et al. 2012;Sarabeev and Desdevides 2014;Marchiori et al. 2015;, which is also a reflection of the resemblance of their morphological characteristics. ...
The gill monogeneans from the genus Ligophorus Euzet et Suriano, 1977 are parasites strictly host specific to mugilid fishes, occurring on a number of mullet species. In South Africa, monogeneans from marine and estuarine teleost fishes are still poorly known. During 2020, five individuals of the South African mullet Chelon richardsonii (Smith) were collected from the Groot River estuary on the south coast of South Africa (south-western Indian Ocean). Monogeneans collected from the gills were preserved for morphological and phylogenetic analyses. The monogeneans found were morphologically identified as Ligophorus minimus Euzet et Suriano, 1977. This study provides the first record of L. minimus from South Africa and the first record on the host C. richardsonii. Furthermore, sequences of the partial 28S rRNA gene and the entire ITS1 region for this species were obtained from the sampled locality in the south-western Indian Ocean for the first time. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed the morphological identification of L. minimus in the present study. The phylogenetic relationships of L. minimus with its congeners corroborate previous studies, providing more insights into the monophyly of the genus, routes of new host colonisation, and distribution patterns.
... New sequences of C. berradae, C. yanni, S. gravivaginus, S. longicornis and S. bailloni are needed to verify this. In other groups of closely related monogeneans, the rDNA fragments can be conserved also, between different hosts (Kmentová et al., 2016a, b) or between closely related species (Marchiori et al., 2015). Therefore, there is potential for the rDNA fragments to be used for species delineation in Cichlidogyrus/Scutogyrus, as shown for Gyrodactylus spp. ...
Nile tilapia, one of the most popular aquaculture species worldwide, has been introduced into the Congo Basin several times for aquaculture purposes. Previous studies based on morphological features showed that some of the monogenean gill parasites were co-introduced with Nile tilapia and some spilled over to native Congolese cichlids. In this study, we genetically investigated the co-introduced monogeneans of Nile tilapia from three major parts of the Congo Basin: Upper, Middle and Lower Congo. We sequenced 214 specimens belonging to 16 species of Monogenea, collected from native and introduced tilapia species from Congo, Madagascar and Burundi. We evaluate their position in a phylogeny including 38 monogenean species in total. Our results confirm the co-introductions in the Congo Basin and suggest one unreported parasite transmission from introduced Nile tilapia to native Mweru tilapia in Upper Congo, which was undetectable with a morphological study alone. Shared parasite COI haplotypes between Madagascar and the Congo Basin illustrate how anthropogenic introduction events homogenize parasite communities across large geographical distances and thereby disrupt isolation by distance patterns. Contrary to our expectation, the parasite populations co-introduced in the Congo Basin reveal a high COI diversity, probably resulting from multiple Nile tilapia introductions from different geographic origins. Additionally, we tested the barcoding gap and the performance of mitochondrial COI and nuclear ribosomal ITS-1, 28S and 18S markers. We found a significant barcoding gap of 15% for COI, but none for the other markers. Our molecular results reveal that Cichlidogyrus halli, C. papernastrema, C. tiberianus, C. cirratus and C. zambezensis are in need of taxonomic revision.
... The 18S, ITS1, 5.8S and 28S fragments were obtained for 12 species from the Mediterranean Sea and 2 species from the Black Sea (Blasco-Costa et al., 2012;Rodríguez-González et al., 2015). For two species off the coast of Brazil, 18S, ITS1, 5.8S and 28S were sequenced (Marchiori et al., 2015), and 18S, 28S and ITS1 fragments were obtained for 14 species from the Indian Ocean (Soo et al., 2015;Khang et al., 2016;Pakdee et al., 2019). Several studies (Blasco-Costa et al., 2012;Rodríguez-González et al., 2015;Khang et al., 2016) have compared morphological and genetic variability, showing a greater degree of congruence between phylogenetic reconstructions based on these data, suggesting that the use of ribosomal cluster sequences for genotyping species of this genus is promising. ...
Mugil cephalus L., 1758 (flathead mullet) is a valuable commercial fish and a promising object of artificial breeding in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and the study of its parasite fauna is important for fishery and mariculture. Monogeneans of the genus Ligophorus are common ectoparasites dwelling on the gills of mullets. Two representatives of this genus parasitise flathead mullet in the Azov-Black Sea region, namely Ligophorus mediterraneus Sarabeev, Balbuena et Euzet, 2005 and Ligophorus cephali Rubtsova, Balbuena, Sarabeev, Blasco-Costa et Euzet, 2006. Morphological identification of these species requires spending much time and a high level of experience in monogenean taxonomy. For quick and correct species identification of these parasites, we have developed a genotyping approach based on the polymerase chain reaction of allele-specific gene sites for various Monogenea species. A fragment of the 28S ribosomal gene, which includes conserved and variable sites, was chosen as a genetic marker. Three approaches were used as follows: amplified fragment length analysis, allelespecific PCR with endpoint detection and allele-specific real-time PCR using SYBR Green intercalating dye. The first approach was by obtaining PCR products of different lengths that were specific either to L. mediterraneus or to L. cephali . This approach was implemented due to the presence of several variable sites located at a distance from each other. The PCR mixture contained three primers: one forward and two reverse. The forward primer was complementary to the conserved site, which did not differ between species. Reverse primers were speciesspecific and, for each species, they were complementary to different DNA regions located 100 bp apart. As a result, L. mediterraneus was characterized by shorter amplicons than L. cephali . For the second and third approaches, a pair of primers was designed according to the following principle: the forward primer was complementary to both species, since it was selected for the conserved gene region. Reverse primers were species-specific and were designed for the 28S variable region. The two parasite species were distinguished by three-point mutations. Thus, one pair of primers was complementary to L. mediterraneus , the other, to L. cephali . The amplified fragment length analysis and the allele-specific real-time PCR demonstrated 100 % coincidence of genotyping results compared with Sanger sequencing. The developed genotyping protocols can be used not only to distinguish two species of Ligophorus from flathead mullet in ecological studies and veterinary practice but also for further development of similar approaches for other monogeneans, among which there are many pathogenic species.
... Therefore, the catch-all genus Ancyrocephalus has remained polyphyletic with, e.g., A. mogurndae being placed among the Dactylogyrinae (clade A9) rather than the Ancyrocephalinae (Fig. 2, clade B6). In the past, this polyphyly has resulted in the proposal of several genera whose members were previously assigned to Ancyrocephalus including Kapentagyrus (Kmentová et al., 2018), Ligophorus (Euzet and Suriano, 1977;Marchiori et al., 2015), and Xenoligophoroides (Dmitrieva et al., 2018). Here however, we refrain from creating a new genus for A. mogurndae as sequences of a majority of species of Ancyrocephalus are unavailable, and systematic revision of the genus should be based on more extensive molecular and morphological datasets than used in the present study. ...
Dactylogyridae is one of the most studied families of parasitic flatworms with more than 1000 species and 166 genera described to date including ecto- and endoparasites. Dactylogyrid monogeneans were suggested as model organisms for host-parasite macroevolutionary and biogeographical studies due to the scientific and economic importance of some of their host lineages. Consequently, an array of phylogenetic research into different dactylogyrid lineages has been produced over the past years but the last family-wide study was published 16 years ago. Here, we provide a meta-analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of Dactylogyridae including representatives of all genera with available molecular data (n=67). First, we investigate the systematic informativeness of morphological characters widely used to diagnose dactylogyrid genera through a parsimony analysis of the characters, character mapping, and phylogenetic comparative methods. Second, we provide an overview of the current state of the systematics of the family and its subfamilies, and summarise potentially poly- and paraphyletic genera. Third, we elaborate on the implications of taxonomic, citation, and confirmation bias in past studies. Fourth, we discuss host range, biogeographical, and freshwater-marine patterns. We found two well-supported macroclades which we assigned to the subfamilies Dactylogyrinae and Ancyrocephalinae. These subfamilies further include 16 well-supported clades with only a few synapomorphies that could be deduced from generic diagnoses in the literature. Furthermore, few morphological characters considered systematically informative at the genus level display a strong phylogenetic signal. However, the parsimony analysis suggests that these characters provide little information on the relationships between genera. We conclude that a strong taxonomic bias and low coverage of DNA sequences and regions limit knowledge on morphological and biogeographical evolutionary patterns that can be inferred from these results. We propose addressing potential citation and confirmation biases through a ‘level playing field’ multiple sequence alignment as provided by this study.