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Morphological and molecular description of eight new species of Gyrodactylus von Nordmann, 1832 (Platyhelminthes: Monogenea) from poeciliid fishes, collected in their natural distribution range in the Gulf of Mexico slope, Mexico

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Abstract

Eight new species of Gyrodactylus are described from Poecilia mexicana, Poeciliopsis gracilis, Pseudoxiphophorus bimaculatus [syn. = Heterandria bimaculata], and Xiphophorus hellerii collected in the Nautla and La Antigua River Basins in Veracruz, and in the Tecolutla River Basin in Puebla, Mexico. Analyzing the morphology of the marginal hooks, Gyrodactylus pseudobullatarudis n. sp. and Gyrodactylus xtachuna n. sp. are both very similar to Gyrodactylus bullatarudis; Gyrodactylus takoke n. sp. resembles Gyrodactylus xalapensis; Gyrodactylus lhkahuili n. sp. is similar to Gyrodactylus jarocho; and both Gyrodactylus microdactylus n. sp. and Gyrodactylus actzu n. sp. are similar to Gyrodactylus poeciliae in that all three species possess extremely short shaft points. A hypothesis of the systematic relationships of the eight new Gyrodactylus species and some of the known gyrodactylids infecting poeciliids was constructed with sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) and the 5.8S ribosomal gene of the rRNA. Phylogenetic trees showed that the new and previously described species of Gyrodactylus infecting poeciliid fishes do not form a monophyletic assemblage. Trees also showed that the eight new species described morphologically correspond to well-supported monophyletic groups; and that morphologically similar species are also phylogenetically close. Additionally, we correct previous erroneous records of the presence of Gyrodactylus bullatarudis on wild Poecilia mexicana and Xiphophorus hellerii collected in Mexico, as re-examination of the original specimens indicated that these corresponded to Gyrodactylus pseudobullatarudis n. sp. (infecting Poecilia mexicana and Xiphophorus hellerii) and to Gyrodactylus xtachuna n. sp. (on Xiphophorus hellerii). Finally, given the widespread anthropogenic translocation of poeciliid fishes for the aquarium trade and mosquito control programs, as well as the existence of invasive, feral poeciliid populations worldwide, we discuss the possibility that gyrodactylid parasites could be introduced along with the fish hosts—this work provides taxonomic information to assess that possibility, as it describes parasites collected from poeciliid fishes within their native distribution range.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Ismael Guzmán (INECOL) for help collecting hosts and worms; Martha Salazar and Cutperto Mora for the collection of fish specimens in Puebla; Diego Santiago Alarcón (INECOL) for the loan of the microscope to take microphotographs; and Luis García Prieto from the Colección Nacional de Helmintos (CNHE), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) for the loan of Gyrodactylus type material. We thank Mark Freeman (University of Malaya, Malaysia) for designing the primers ITS1-fm and ITS2-rm, and for allowing us to publish the ITS sequences of Gyrodactylus jarocho and Gyrodactylus xalapensis, which he obtained. We thank Germán Muñoz, Mario Garduño and Héctor Basurto (all UNAM) for allowing us to work at Rancho El Clarín, Tlapacoyan. Field sampling was performed according to Mexican codes of practice and received approval of the Mexican Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) under scientific collection permit SGPA/DGVS/02967/14. This research was supported by grants to MRG from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT no. CB 168306) and Fundación Produce Veracruz/Red Nacional de Información e Investigación en Pesca y Acuacultura (FUNPROVER/RNIIPA). AGV thanks CONACyT for her postdoctoral fellowship (Becario 20340). This study was presented at the XIII ICOPA 2014 conference.

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    1. Red de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., km 2.5 Ant. Carretera a Coatepec, 91070, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

      Adriana García-Vásquez, Ulises Razo-Mendivil & Miguel Rubio-Godoy

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    1. Adriana García-Vásquez
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    2. Ulises Razo-Mendivil
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    3. Miguel Rubio-Godoy
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    Correspondence to Miguel Rubio-Godoy.

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    Adriana García-Vásquez and Ulises Razo-Mendivil are the principal authors.

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    García-Vásquez, A., Razo-Mendivil, U. & Rubio-Godoy, M. Morphological and molecular description of eight new species of Gyrodactylus von Nordmann, 1832 (Platyhelminthes: Monogenea) from poeciliid fishes, collected in their natural distribution range in the Gulf of Mexico slope, Mexico. Parasitol Res 114, 3337–3355 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4559-z

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