Revisiting the type material of two African Diplozoinae (Diplozoidae: Monogenea), with remarks on morphology, systematics and diplozoid specificity

The morphological characterisation of Diplozoidae spp. is highly reliant on the details of the sclerotised components of the hooks and clamps in the haptor. Only six species of Paradiplozoon (Diplozoinae) have been described from Africa, four of which have adequate morphological and even comparative...

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Main Authors: Quinton Marco Dos Santos, Annemariè Avenant-Oldewage
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2024-02-01
Series:PeerJ
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Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/17020.pdf
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author Quinton Marco Dos Santos
Annemariè Avenant-Oldewage
author_facet Quinton Marco Dos Santos
Annemariè Avenant-Oldewage
author_sort Quinton Marco Dos Santos
collection DOAJ
description The morphological characterisation of Diplozoidae spp. is highly reliant on the details of the sclerotised components of the hooks and clamps in the haptor. Only six species of Paradiplozoon (Diplozoinae) have been described from Africa, four of which have adequate morphological and even comparative ITS2 rDNA data available. However, the descriptions of Paradiplozoon ghanense (Thomas, 1957) and Paradiplozoon aegyptense (Fischthal & Kuntz, 1963) lack essential taxonomic information, specifically the details for their haptoral sclerites. As such, all available material from museum collections for these two species were studied using light microscopy to supplement the original morphometric descriptions. The holotype and paratypes of P. aegyptense were studied, but only voucher material for P. ghanense could be sourced. However, this voucher material for P. ghanense was deposited by the species authority and bore a striking resemblance to the illustrations and collection details from the original description. They were thus identified as the type series for the taxon, with a lectotype and paralectotype designated. Both P. ghanense and P. aegyptense could be readily distinguished from other taxa based on the supplementary data generated here, supporting their distinctness. The haptoral sclerites of P. aegyptense were most similar to those of Paradiplozoon krugerense Dos Santos & Avenant-Oldewage, 2016, also described from Labeo spp., while the sclerites of P. ghanense were most similar to Paradiplozoon bingolense Civáňová, Koyun & Koubková, 2013 and Paradiplozoon iraqense Al-Nasiri & Balbuena, 2016. Additionally, a voucher of P. aegyptense collected from the alestid type host of P. ghanense was reidentified as the latter species here. This greatly simplified the known host specificity for Paradiplozoon spp. in Africa, with P. aegyptense now exclusively reported from Cypriniformes (Cyprinidae and Danionidae), and P. ghanense restricted to Characiformes (Alestidae). The occurrence of all diplozoids from non-cyprinoid hosts was also investigated and several records of diplozoids occurring on non-cyprinoid hosts were collated and scrutinised. Excluding the two instances of diplozoids described and exclusively occurring on Characiformes fishes (P. ghanense and Paradiplozoon tetragonopterini (Sterba, 1957)), most other non-cyprinoid collections appear sporadic and unsubstantiated, but warrant further investigation supported by diligent taxonomic data. Even though the morphometric descriptions of both P. ghanense and P. aegyptense were fully reported on here, additional material will be needed to study their genetic profiles and phylogeny.
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spelling doaj.art-ca770178edf84faa8c5a7041167fa9ce2024-03-01T15:05:23ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592024-02-0112e1702010.7717/peerj.17020Revisiting the type material of two African Diplozoinae (Diplozoidae: Monogenea), with remarks on morphology, systematics and diplozoid specificityQuinton Marco Dos SantosAnnemariè Avenant-OldewageThe morphological characterisation of Diplozoidae spp. is highly reliant on the details of the sclerotised components of the hooks and clamps in the haptor. Only six species of Paradiplozoon (Diplozoinae) have been described from Africa, four of which have adequate morphological and even comparative ITS2 rDNA data available. However, the descriptions of Paradiplozoon ghanense (Thomas, 1957) and Paradiplozoon aegyptense (Fischthal & Kuntz, 1963) lack essential taxonomic information, specifically the details for their haptoral sclerites. As such, all available material from museum collections for these two species were studied using light microscopy to supplement the original morphometric descriptions. The holotype and paratypes of P. aegyptense were studied, but only voucher material for P. ghanense could be sourced. However, this voucher material for P. ghanense was deposited by the species authority and bore a striking resemblance to the illustrations and collection details from the original description. They were thus identified as the type series for the taxon, with a lectotype and paralectotype designated. Both P. ghanense and P. aegyptense could be readily distinguished from other taxa based on the supplementary data generated here, supporting their distinctness. The haptoral sclerites of P. aegyptense were most similar to those of Paradiplozoon krugerense Dos Santos & Avenant-Oldewage, 2016, also described from Labeo spp., while the sclerites of P. ghanense were most similar to Paradiplozoon bingolense Civáňová, Koyun & Koubková, 2013 and Paradiplozoon iraqense Al-Nasiri & Balbuena, 2016. Additionally, a voucher of P. aegyptense collected from the alestid type host of P. ghanense was reidentified as the latter species here. This greatly simplified the known host specificity for Paradiplozoon spp. in Africa, with P. aegyptense now exclusively reported from Cypriniformes (Cyprinidae and Danionidae), and P. ghanense restricted to Characiformes (Alestidae). The occurrence of all diplozoids from non-cyprinoid hosts was also investigated and several records of diplozoids occurring on non-cyprinoid hosts were collated and scrutinised. Excluding the two instances of diplozoids described and exclusively occurring on Characiformes fishes (P. ghanense and Paradiplozoon tetragonopterini (Sterba, 1957)), most other non-cyprinoid collections appear sporadic and unsubstantiated, but warrant further investigation supported by diligent taxonomic data. Even though the morphometric descriptions of both P. ghanense and P. aegyptense were fully reported on here, additional material will be needed to study their genetic profiles and phylogeny.https://peerj.com/articles/17020.pdfPlatyhelminthesFish parasiteBiodiversityFreshwaterParadiplozoonPolyopisthocotyla
spellingShingle Quinton Marco Dos Santos
Annemariè Avenant-Oldewage
Revisiting the type material of two African Diplozoinae (Diplozoidae: Monogenea), with remarks on morphology, systematics and diplozoid specificity
PeerJ
Platyhelminthes
Fish parasite
Biodiversity
Freshwater
Paradiplozoon
Polyopisthocotyla
title Revisiting the type material of two African Diplozoinae (Diplozoidae: Monogenea), with remarks on morphology, systematics and diplozoid specificity
title_full Revisiting the type material of two African Diplozoinae (Diplozoidae: Monogenea), with remarks on morphology, systematics and diplozoid specificity
title_fullStr Revisiting the type material of two African Diplozoinae (Diplozoidae: Monogenea), with remarks on morphology, systematics and diplozoid specificity
title_full_unstemmed Revisiting the type material of two African Diplozoinae (Diplozoidae: Monogenea), with remarks on morphology, systematics and diplozoid specificity
title_short Revisiting the type material of two African Diplozoinae (Diplozoidae: Monogenea), with remarks on morphology, systematics and diplozoid specificity
title_sort revisiting the type material of two african diplozoinae diplozoidae monogenea with remarks on morphology systematics and diplozoid specificity
topic Platyhelminthes
Fish parasite
Biodiversity
Freshwater
Paradiplozoon
Polyopisthocotyla
url https://peerj.com/articles/17020.pdf
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