Phylogenetic affiliation of the lepocreadiid trematodes parasitizing some marine fishes in the North-western Pacific

ABSTRACT

The first phylogenetic reconstruction of the Lepocreadiidae that include Opechona olssoni, Prodistomum alaskense and Prodistomum orientale is presented. These trematode species were collected during a parasitological survey of marine fish caught in the North-western Pacific. Phylogenetic analysis based on comparisons of 28S rRNA gene partial sequences supports the monophyly of the genus Opechona. On the contrary, the genus Prodistomum is not a monophyletic taxon. The Opechona spp. clade together with P. orientale, P. alaskense and the three previously sequenced lepocreadiid species Prodistomum keyam, Preptetos trulla and Clavogalea trachinoti form a single high-supported group. The result of ITS1-based analysis does not confirm the taxonomic hypothesis about the conspecificity of O. olssoni and O. bacillaris.

KEYWORDS:

• Opechona olssoni
• Opechona bacillaris
• Prodistomum alaskense
• Prodistomum orientale
• Lepocreadiidae
• 28S rRNA gene

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank crew of the RV Professor Kaganovsky (Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Moscow) and Dr Valeriy Shevlyakov (Pacific Branch of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Vladivostok).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Russian Science Foundation, grant #17-74-10203 and Russian Academy of Sciences, ‘Bioresources’ programme.