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Morphology is not a reliable taxonomic tool for the genus Lernaea: molecular data and experimental infection reveal that L. cyprinacea and L. cruciata are conspecific
- Source :
- Parasites & Vectors, Parasites & Vectors, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2019)
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- BioMed Central, 2019.
-
Abstract
- Background Species belonging to the genus Lernaea are cosmopolitan parasites that can infect many different freshwater fish hosts. Due to a high degree of morphological intraspecific variability and high levels of interspecific similarities, their classification is extremely difficult and controversial. Although the suitability of the shape of cephalic horns has been questioned decades ago by some experimental infection studies, this character still plays the central role in the identification of Lernaea spp. Methods We used the nominal species Lernaea cyprinacea and Lernaea cruciata to test the hypothesis that the shape of the anchor can exhibit host-induced morphological variability, and that the two taxa may be synonymous. Results We examined 517 wild or farmed specimens of five host fish species (four cyprinids and a mosquitofish), and found that all 16 parasite specimens collected from mosquitofish could be morphologically identified as L. cruciata, whereas the remaining 25 parasite specimens were all identified as L. cyprinacea. We experimentally infected goldfish and mosquitofish specimens with offspring (copepodids) of a single L. cyprinacea specimen: the adult parasites from goldfish were morphologically identified as L. cyprinacea, and those from mosquitofish as L. cruciata. We then used molecular data to corroborate that all these specimens are conspecific. Conclusions Our results suggest that L. cyprinacea and L. cruciata may be synonyms, misidentified as different species as a result of host-induced morphological variation. Given the current shortage of molecular data for the genus Lernaea, in order to resolve the taxonomy of this genus (determine the exact number of species), future studies should aim to sequence as much molecular data as possible, and conduct further experimental infections.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine
Entomology
Zoology
Phenotypic plasticity
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Intraspecific competition
lcsh:Infectious and parasitic diseases
Molecular taxonomy
Copepoda
03 medical and health sciences
Parasitic copepods
Genus
Animals
lcsh:RC109-216
Lernaea
biology
Research
Fishes
Animal Structures
biology.organism_classification
Classification
030104 developmental biology
Infectious Diseases
Freshwater fish
Parasitology
Taxonomy (biology)
Mosquitofish
Cruciata
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17563305
- Volume :
- 12
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Parasites & Vectors
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....f144309190c271082df3448f1e1975e1