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Animals
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New Insights on the Taxonomy of Parasites in Aquatic Animals
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New Insights on the Taxonomy of Parasites in Aquatic Animals

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Aquatic Animals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 16382

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Monica Caffara

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Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum Universita di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: morphological and molecular studies on Clinostomum (Trematoda) and Contracaecum (Nematoda); fishborne zoonotic parasites with particular reference to the molecular identifications; microsporidiosis in farmed fish; cryptosporidiosis in fish and terrestrial animals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Perla Tedesco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: parasite taxonomy; zoonotic parasites; parasite ecology; parasitic infections in wild and farmed animals; electron microscopy; helminths; fish diseases; cephalopod parasites; crayfish diseases; oomycetes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Parasites are ubiquitous in both farmed and wild aquatic animals. While in aquaculture, many aspects of the biology and ecology of the parasite species involved are well known, our knowledge of parasitic infections in the wild is limited. This is particularly true for less studied taxa that affect the productivity and marketability of fish stocks and the conservation of invertebrate and vertebrate host species inhabiting marine and freshwater environments.

The integration of molecular biology techniques with traditional morphometric approaches has led researchers to question several aspects in taxonomic studies, with particular reference to the species showing similar morphological traits, allowing to avoid misidentifications and to elucidate the lifecycle of several taxa, particularly those with still unknown developmental stages.

Improved knowledge in aquatic parasitology coupled with the application of ecological modeling can help to address current questions regarding the role of parasitic agents in the ecosystems and will assist policymakers in correct management of the aquatic environment.

Dr. Monica Caffara
Dr. Perla Tedesco
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • parasites
  • aquatic animals
  • marine and freshwater environments
  • systematic
  • taxonomy
  • phylogeny
  • evolution

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

38 pages, 10489 KiB  
Article
From the Atlantic Coast to Lake Tanganyika: Gill-Infecting Flatworms of Freshwater Pellonuline Clupeid Fishes in West and Central Africa, with Description of Eleven New Species and Key to Kapentagyrus (Monogenea, Dactylogyridae)
by Maarten P. M. Vanhove, Raquel Hermans, Tom Artois and Nikol Kmentová
Animals 2021, 11(12), 3578; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11123578 - 16 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3475
Abstract
Unlike their marine counterparts, tropical freshwater clupeids receive little scientific attention. However, they sustain important fisheries that may be of (inter)national commercial interest. Africa harbours over 20 freshwater clupeid species within Pellonulini. Recent research suggests their most abundant parasites are gill-infecting monogenean flatworms [...] Read more.
Unlike their marine counterparts, tropical freshwater clupeids receive little scientific attention. However, they sustain important fisheries that may be of (inter)national commercial interest. Africa harbours over 20 freshwater clupeid species within Pellonulini. Recent research suggests their most abundant parasites are gill-infecting monogenean flatworms within Kapentagyrus. After inspecting specimens of 12 freshwater clupeids from West and Central Africa, mainly sourced in biodiversity collections, we propose 11 new species of Kapentagyrus, which we describe using their haptoral and genital morphology. Because of their high morphological similarity, species delineation relies mostly on the morphometrics of anchors and hooks. Specifically, earlier, molecular taxonomic work indicated that the proportion between the length of the anchor roots, and between the hook and anchor length, is diagnostic. On average, about one species of Kapentagyrus exists per pellonuline species, although Pellonula leonensis harbours four species and Microthrissa congica two, while Microthrissa moeruensis and Potamothrissa acutirostris share a gill monogenean species. This study more than quadruples the number of known species of Kapentagyrus, also almost quadrupling the number of pellonuline species of which monogeneans are known. Since members of Kapentagyrus are informative about their hosts’ ecology, evolutionary history, and introduction routes, this enables a parasitological perspective on several data-poor African fisheries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights on the Taxonomy of Parasites in Aquatic Animals)
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15 pages, 3449 KiB  
Article
Xarifiid Copepods (Copepoda: Cyclopoida: Xarifiidae) Parasitic in the Coral Psammocora columna Dana, 1846 from Taiwan
by Yu-Rong Cheng, Tsai-Ming Lu and De-Sing Ding
Animals 2021, 11(10), 2847; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11102847 - 29 Sep 2021
Viewed by 1999
Abstract
A comprehensive knowledge of relationships between coral and coral-associated organisms is essential for the conservation studies of the coral reef community, yet the biodiversity database of coral-inhabiting copepods remains incomplete. Here we surveyed in a widely distributed scleractinian coral, Psammocora columna Dana, 1846, [...] Read more.
A comprehensive knowledge of relationships between coral and coral-associated organisms is essential for the conservation studies of the coral reef community, yet the biodiversity database of coral-inhabiting copepods remains incomplete. Here we surveyed in a widely distributed scleractinian coral, Psammocora columna Dana, 1846, and newly discovered two endoparasitic copepod species, Xarifiayanliaoensis sp. nov. and Xarifia magnifica sp. nov. These two new species are described based on specimens collected in Taiwan, and they share several common morphological characters of Xarifia copepods, i.e., region dorsal to fifth legs having three posteriorly directed processes unequally. However, X. yanliaoensis sp. nov. is distinguishable from other species by the morphology of the endopods of legs, antenna, maxilla, and maxilliped (in both genders). The morphological characters of X. magnifica sp. nov. are the endopods of legs, leg 5, and maxilliped in the male. Including the two new species described in the present work, the genus Xarifia Humes, 1960 belongs to the cyclopoid family Xarifiidae Humes, 1960 currently consists of 94 species, and eight of them live in association with the Psammocora coral. A comparison table and a key to the species of Xarifia from Psammocora corals are given herein. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights on the Taxonomy of Parasites in Aquatic Animals)
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9 pages, 4925 KiB  
Communication
Choniomyzon taiwanensis n. sp. (Crustacea: Copepoda: Nicothoidae) Parasitic on the External Egg Mass of the Longlegged Spiny Lobster Panulirus longipes longipes (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palinuridae) from Taiwanese Waters
by Yu-Rong Cheng, Kaori Wakabayashi and Yen-Ju Pan
Animals 2021, 11(8), 2475; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11082475 - 23 Aug 2021
Viewed by 2948
Abstract
Choniomyzon taiwanensis n. sp. is described based on specimens collected from examining external egg masses of spiny lobster Panulirus longipes longipes (Milne-Edwards, 1868), obtained from Hualien, Taiwan. The new species differs from its congeners in possessing the following characteristics: (1) small prosome (about [...] Read more.
Choniomyzon taiwanensis n. sp. is described based on specimens collected from examining external egg masses of spiny lobster Panulirus longipes longipes (Milne-Edwards, 1868), obtained from Hualien, Taiwan. The new species differs from its congeners in possessing the following characteristics: (1) small prosome (about 0.84 mm); (2) armature of antennule being 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1+1 (aesthetasc), 4, 6+1 (aesthetasc); (3) five-segmented antenna; (4) second segment of antenna bearing 1 inner seta; (5) two-segmented maxilla. Based on the evidence of distinctive morphological features and host preference, Choniomyzon taiwanensis n. sp. is a new species. Until now, four species of Choniomyzon have been known living on decapods, and the new species reported here is the first record of Choniomyzon species from spiny lobster in Taiwanese waters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights on the Taxonomy of Parasites in Aquatic Animals)
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7 pages, 570 KiB  
Article
Hybrid Genotype of Anisakis simplex (s.s.) and A. pegreffii Identified in Third- and Fourth-Stage Larvae from Sympatric and Allopatric Spanish Marine Waters
by Xavier Roca-Geronès, M. Magdalena Alcover, Carla Godínez-González, Isabel Montoliu and Roser Fisa
Animals 2021, 11(8), 2458; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11082458 - 21 Aug 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2685
Abstract
The sibling species Anisakis simplex (s.s.) and Anisakis pegreffii are parasites of marine mammals and fish worldwide and the main causative agents of human anisakiasis. In sympatric areas, a hybrid genotype between the two species has been identified, mainly in third-stage larvae, but [...] Read more.
The sibling species Anisakis simplex (s.s.) and Anisakis pegreffii are parasites of marine mammals and fish worldwide and the main causative agents of human anisakiasis. In sympatric areas, a hybrid genotype between the two species has been identified, mainly in third-stage larvae, but rarely in fourth-stage and adult forms. The aim of this study was to confirm the presence of hybrid genotypes in larvae parasitizing fish caught in sympatric and allopatric Spanish marine waters, the North-East Atlantic and West Mediterranean, respectively, and to study possible differences in the growth behaviour between genotypes. Of the 254 molecularly analysed larvae, 18 were identified as hybrids by PCR-RFLP analysis of the rDNA ITS region, 11 of which were subsequently confirmed by EF1 α-1 nDNA gene sequencing. These results therefore indicate an overestimation of hybrid genotypes when identification is based only on the ITS region. We also report the detection of a hybrid specimen in a host from the West Mediterranean, considered an allopatric zone. Additionally, fourth-stage larvae with a hybrid genotype were obtained in vitro for the first time, and no differences were observed in their growth behaviour compared to larvae with A. simplex (s.s.) and A. pegreffii genotypes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights on the Taxonomy of Parasites in Aquatic Animals)
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13 pages, 3830 KiB  
Article
Metacestodes of Elasmobranch Tapeworms in Octopus vulgaris (Mollusca, Cephalopoda) from Central Mediterranean—SEM and Molecular Data
by Perla Tedesco, Monica Caffara, Andrea Gustinelli, Graziano Fiorito and Maria Letizia Fioravanti
Animals 2020, 10(11), 2038; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10112038 - 4 Nov 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3592
Abstract
Cephalopods are intermediate/paratenic hosts in the life cycle of elasmobranch tapeworms, nevertheless most records of infection in this group of mollusks are outdated and fragmentary. The present work aimed to investigate the cestode fauna of the common octopus Octopus vulgaris from the Tyrrhenian [...] Read more.
Cephalopods are intermediate/paratenic hosts in the life cycle of elasmobranch tapeworms, nevertheless most records of infection in this group of mollusks are outdated and fragmentary. The present work aimed to investigate the cestode fauna of the common octopus Octopus vulgaris from the Tyrrhenian Sea (Central Mediterranean). The parasitic stages were characterized by light and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and sequencing of 28S rDNA. Three cestode taxa were identified to the genus level: the onchoproteocephalidean Acanthobothrium sp. (prevalence 28%), the “tetraphyllidean” Anthobothrium sp. (prevalence 13%) and the trypanorhynch Nybelinia sp. (prevalence 3%). The remarkable prevalence observed for gastrointestinal cestodes highlight a possible important role of O. vulgaris in the transmission of elasmobranch tapeworms, particularly Onchoproteocephalideans. Furthermore, the present work provides, for the first time, detailed morphological (SEM) and molecular support to confirm the occurrence of Anthobothrium sp. in cephalopod hosts. In order to gain higher taxonomic resolution for the identified taxa, we stress the need to collect further morphological and molecular data of adult cestodes infecting their elasmobranch definitive hosts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights on the Taxonomy of Parasites in Aquatic Animals)
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