All quiet on the western front? The evolutionary history of monogeneans (Dactylogyridae: Cichlidogyrus, Onchobdella) infecting a West and Central African tribe of cichlid fishes (Chromidotilapiini)
Owing to the largely unexplored diversity of metazoan parasites, their speciation mechanisms and the circumstances under which such speciation occurs – in allopatry or sympatry – remain vastly understudied. Cichlids and their monogenean flatworm parasites have previously served as a study system for...
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| Language: | English |
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EDP Sciences
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Parasite |
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| Online Access: | https://www.parasite-journal.org/articles/parasite/full_html/2023/01/parasite230014/parasite230014.html |
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| author | Moons Tanisha Kmentová Nikol Pariselle Antoine Artois Tom Bert Wim Vanhove Maarten P.M. Cruz-Laufer Armando J. |
| author_facet | Moons Tanisha Kmentová Nikol Pariselle Antoine Artois Tom Bert Wim Vanhove Maarten P.M. Cruz-Laufer Armando J. |
| author_sort | Moons Tanisha |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Owing to the largely unexplored diversity of metazoan parasites, their speciation mechanisms and the circumstances under which such speciation occurs – in allopatry or sympatry – remain vastly understudied. Cichlids and their monogenean flatworm parasites have previously served as a study system for macroevolutionary processes, e.g., for the role of East African host radiations on parasite communities. Here, we investigate the diversity and evolution of the poorly explored monogeneans infecting a West and Central African lineage of cichlid fishes: Chromidotilapiini, which is the most species-rich tribe of cichlids in this region. We screened gills of 149 host specimens (27 species) from natural history collections and measured systematically informative characters of the sclerotised attachment and reproductive organs of the parasites. Ten monogenean species (Dactylogyridae: Cichlidogyrus and Onchobdella) were found, eight of which are newly described and one redescribed herein. The phylogenetic positions of chromidotilapiines-infecting species of Cichlidogyrus were inferred through a parsimony analysis of the morphological characters. Furthermore, we employed machine learning algorithms to detect morphological features associated with the main lineages of Cichlidogyrus. Although the results of these experimental algorithms remain inconclusive, the parsimony analysis indicates that West and Central African lineages of Cichlidogyrus and Onchobdella are monophyletic, unlike the paraphyletic host lineages. Several instances of host sharing suggest occurrences of intra-host speciation (sympatry) and host switching (allopatry). Some morphological variation was recorded that may also indicate the presence of species complexes. We conclude that collection material can provide important insights on parasite evolution despite the lack of well-preserved DNA material. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T09:07:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-563b57cd38b14f8aa9bf4f78b1cc1cb2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1776-1042 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T09:07:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | EDP Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Parasite |
| spelling | doaj.art-563b57cd38b14f8aa9bf4f78b1cc1cb22023-12-02T09:51:29ZengEDP SciencesParasite1776-10422023-01-01302510.1051/parasite/2023023parasite230014All quiet on the western front? The evolutionary history of monogeneans (Dactylogyridae: Cichlidogyrus, Onchobdella) infecting a West and Central African tribe of cichlid fishes (Chromidotilapiini)Moons Tanisha0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0632-639XKmentová Nikol1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6554-9545Pariselle Antoine2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1591-7423Artois Tom3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2491-7273Bert Wim4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5864-412XVanhove Maarten P.M.5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3100-7566Cruz-Laufer Armando J.6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1370-4739UHasselt – Hasselt University, Faculty of Sciences, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Research Group Zoology: Biodiversity and Toxicology, Agoralaan Gebouw DUHasselt – Hasselt University, Faculty of Sciences, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Research Group Zoology: Biodiversity and Toxicology, Agoralaan Gebouw DISEM, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDUHasselt – Hasselt University, Faculty of Sciences, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Research Group Zoology: Biodiversity and Toxicology, Agoralaan Gebouw DNematology Research Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent UniversityUHasselt – Hasselt University, Faculty of Sciences, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Research Group Zoology: Biodiversity and Toxicology, Agoralaan Gebouw DUHasselt – Hasselt University, Faculty of Sciences, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Research Group Zoology: Biodiversity and Toxicology, Agoralaan Gebouw DOwing to the largely unexplored diversity of metazoan parasites, their speciation mechanisms and the circumstances under which such speciation occurs – in allopatry or sympatry – remain vastly understudied. Cichlids and their monogenean flatworm parasites have previously served as a study system for macroevolutionary processes, e.g., for the role of East African host radiations on parasite communities. Here, we investigate the diversity and evolution of the poorly explored monogeneans infecting a West and Central African lineage of cichlid fishes: Chromidotilapiini, which is the most species-rich tribe of cichlids in this region. We screened gills of 149 host specimens (27 species) from natural history collections and measured systematically informative characters of the sclerotised attachment and reproductive organs of the parasites. Ten monogenean species (Dactylogyridae: Cichlidogyrus and Onchobdella) were found, eight of which are newly described and one redescribed herein. The phylogenetic positions of chromidotilapiines-infecting species of Cichlidogyrus were inferred through a parsimony analysis of the morphological characters. Furthermore, we employed machine learning algorithms to detect morphological features associated with the main lineages of Cichlidogyrus. Although the results of these experimental algorithms remain inconclusive, the parsimony analysis indicates that West and Central African lineages of Cichlidogyrus and Onchobdella are monophyletic, unlike the paraphyletic host lineages. Several instances of host sharing suggest occurrences of intra-host speciation (sympatry) and host switching (allopatry). Some morphological variation was recorded that may also indicate the presence of species complexes. We conclude that collection material can provide important insights on parasite evolution despite the lack of well-preserved DNA material.https://www.parasite-journal.org/articles/parasite/full_html/2023/01/parasite230014/parasite230014.htmlmachine learningsympatric speciationallopatric speciationhost-parasite evolutionmaximum parsimony |
| spellingShingle | Moons Tanisha Kmentová Nikol Pariselle Antoine Artois Tom Bert Wim Vanhove Maarten P.M. Cruz-Laufer Armando J. All quiet on the western front? The evolutionary history of monogeneans (Dactylogyridae: Cichlidogyrus, Onchobdella) infecting a West and Central African tribe of cichlid fishes (Chromidotilapiini) Parasite machine learning sympatric speciation allopatric speciation host-parasite evolution maximum parsimony |
| title | All quiet on the western front? The evolutionary history of monogeneans (Dactylogyridae: Cichlidogyrus, Onchobdella) infecting a West and Central African tribe of cichlid fishes (Chromidotilapiini) |
| title_full | All quiet on the western front? The evolutionary history of monogeneans (Dactylogyridae: Cichlidogyrus, Onchobdella) infecting a West and Central African tribe of cichlid fishes (Chromidotilapiini) |
| title_fullStr | All quiet on the western front? The evolutionary history of monogeneans (Dactylogyridae: Cichlidogyrus, Onchobdella) infecting a West and Central African tribe of cichlid fishes (Chromidotilapiini) |
| title_full_unstemmed | All quiet on the western front? The evolutionary history of monogeneans (Dactylogyridae: Cichlidogyrus, Onchobdella) infecting a West and Central African tribe of cichlid fishes (Chromidotilapiini) |
| title_short | All quiet on the western front? The evolutionary history of monogeneans (Dactylogyridae: Cichlidogyrus, Onchobdella) infecting a West and Central African tribe of cichlid fishes (Chromidotilapiini) |
| title_sort | all quiet on the western front the evolutionary history of monogeneans dactylogyridae cichlidogyrus onchobdella infecting a west and central african tribe of cichlid fishes chromidotilapiini |
| topic | machine learning sympatric speciation allopatric speciation host-parasite evolution maximum parsimony |
| url | https://www.parasite-journal.org/articles/parasite/full_html/2023/01/parasite230014/parasite230014.html |
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