| Description |
The Mediterranean area is known by the presence of many endemic fish species.Cyprinids represent the most diverse and the most abundant freshwater fish groups in this area. However, the fauna of their parasites is poorly known. In this study, a total of 135 endemic cyprinid species collected during 2014-2018 were investigated for the presence of diplozoid monogeneans covering almost whole range of Euro Mediterranean area and a part of African Mediterranean area (Morocco). Diplozoid species were determined based on the morphology of the attachment apparatus and identification was confirmed by the molecular analysis using partial 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, ITS1 and ITS2 regions. Morphological determination of over 1100 specimens of diplozoids together with phylogenetic analyses revealed five species of genus Paradiplozoon. The most abundant diplozoid species reported on endemic cyprinids of Mediterranean was Paradiplozoon homoion, common parasite of several species of cyprinids in Central Europe. This study provides 17 new host records of P. homoion – e.g. Telestes montenigrinus from Albania; Chondrostoma knerii and Scardinius plotizza from Croatia; Alburnoides oeconomui, A. thessalicus, Barbus balcanicus, B. sperchiensis, Pelasgus marathonicus, Rutilus sperchios, R. ylikiensis, Telestes beoticus and T. alfiensis from Greece; and Achondrostoma arcasii, Barbus haasi, Luciobarbus graellsii. Parachondrostoma miegii and Squalius laietanus from Spain. Furthermore, we determined Paradiplozoon megan, known as a parasite of genera Squalius and Leuciscus in Central Europe, on five host species – e.g. Squalius zrmanjae and S. squalus from Croatia and S. lucumonis, S. squalus, Protochondrostoma genei and Rutilus rubilio from Italy. In addition, we found three species of Paradiplozoon representing potentially new species for science. Paradiplozoon sp. 1 parasitizing Scardinius acarnanicus and Tropidophoxinellus hellenicus from Greece is phylogenetically and morphologically closely related to P. megan. Paradiplozoon sp. 2 was recorded on 9 species of cyprinids in Iberian Peninsula, i.e. Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum and Luciobarbus bocagei from Portugal; and Luciobarbus bocagei, L. guiaronis, Pseudochondrostoma polylepis, Squalius carolitertii, S. pyrenaicus, S. valentinus, Parachondrostoma arrigonis and P. turiense from Spain. This species is phylogenetically closely related to P. pavlovskii. Paradiplozoon sp. 3 was reported only on Moroccan Luciobarbus lepineyi and is phylogenetically closely related to P. bingolensis from Garra rufa from Turkey.
|
