Diversity of freshwater fish parasites in Iraq
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Several recent checklists reported extremely diverse helminth fauna of freshwater fish in Iraq. Nonetheless, from the molecular phylogenetic standpoint, this region is largely unexplored, as almost no DNA sequence data for parasites of endemic fish are available. As the Middle East played an important role in the colonization of Europe and North Africa by cyprinoid fish, we expect close phylogenetic relationships among congeneric helminths from these continents. Our research aimed to investigate the parasite diversity of cyprinoid fish in Iraq using an integrative approach, combining morphology with genetics. A total of 15 cyprinoid species were examined in 2021 for the presence of ectoparasitic and endoparasitic helminths. The highest species diversity was recorded among monogeneans with 17 species of Dactylogyrus (5 species were recognized as new for science and described), 12 species of Gyrodactylus (all new for science), 4 species of Dogielius (2 new for science), and 2 species of Paradiplozoon. The diversity of endoparasitic helminth was low, with the highest species richness within trematodes. The endemic cyprinoids harboured the representatives of Allocreadium and Asymphylodora genera. In addition, the larval stages (metacercariae) of Clinostomum complanatum were collected from the fish surface. The potentially new species for science was also recorded for Acanthocephala. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on the commonly used genetic markers revealed paraphyletic relationships among endemic congeneric helminth taxa (i.e., Dactylogyrus and Gyrodactylus). The phylogenetic proximity of the endemic species to African and European congeners supports the assumption that the historical diversification of freshwater species occurred in the Middle Eastern region. The study was supported by Czech Grant Agency, project no. 20-13539S. |
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