Ancyrocephalidae (Monogenea) of Lake Tanganyika: II: description of the first Cichlidogyrus spp. parasites from Tropheini fish hosts (Teleostei, Cichlidae)

Abstract

Although Lake Tanganyika hosts the most diverse endemic cichlid fish assemblage, its monogenean parasite fauna has hardly been documented. The cichlid tribe Tropheini has generated great interest because of its systematic position within the Haplochromini s.l. and its diversity in trophic morphology, reproductive behaviour and population structure. It has the potential to host a diverse Monogenea fauna. Here, we describe the first Cichlidogyrus spp.: Cichlidogyrus steenbergei sp. n., Cichlidogyrus irenae sp. n. and Cichlidogyrus gistelincki sp. n. The three host species, Limnotilapia dardennii, Ctenochromis horei and Gnathochromis pfefferi, are all infected by a single unique Cichlidogyrus sp. The genital and haptoral structure of the new species suggests a close relationship, which might mirror the close affinities between the hosts within the Tropheini. Based on haptoral configuration, the new species belong to a morphological group within the genus containing parasites both of West African cichlids and of Haplochromini, and hence, do not represent a new organisation of the attachment organ (as has recently been described of congeners infecting the ectodine cichlid Ophthalmotilapia).

An overview of the Gyrodactylus (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae) species parasitizing African catfishes, and their morphological and molecular diversity

“…This is a limited number compared to the more than 400 valid Gyrodactylus spp. worldwide (Harris et al 2004), or to the 78 species of Cichlidogyrus Paperna, 1960 in Africa, Madagascar and the Levant (Pariselle and Euzet 2009;Vanhove et al 2011b;Gillardin et al 2011). C. gariepinus is known to host five African Gyrodactylus species.…”

Reduced host-specificity in a parasite infecting non-littoral Lake Tanganyika cichlids evidenced by intraspecific morphological and genetic diversity

“…Although the first record of parasitic flatworms in Lake Tanganyika stems from a study on cestodes from 19149, the knowledge about the diversity and role of parasitic organisms in this unique environment is still poor and fragmentary. In the last years, parasitological research in the lake has mainly focused on the monogenean fauna of its cichlids and the number of described species is increasing101112131415161718. Monogenea van Beneden, 1858 is one of the most species-rich groups of Platyhelminthes1920 with more than 3,500 already described species21.…”

“…Currently, 13 monogenean genera are known to infect cichlid species and six of these have been observed on African representatives36. Cichlidogyrus (Monopisthocotylea, Dactylogyridae) is the most species rich, with 102 representatives recorded from 88 different host species10111213141518373839404142. This genus displays variation in host-specificity and contains generalist but also strictly specialist species3943.…”

“…This genus displays variation in host-specificity and contains generalist but also strictly specialist species3943. In Lake Tanganyika, most species of Cichlidogyrus described to date are strict or intermediate specialists810121315 following the terminology used in Mendlová & Šimková43. While strict specialists infect only a single host species, intermediate specialists parasitise on two or more congeneric host species and intermediate generalist infect heterogeneric host species from the same tribe.…”

Preface: Advances in cichlid research: behavior, ecology, and evolutionary biology

“…Lake Tanganyika's spectacular cichlid species flock likely hosts an even more diverse parasite community. The monogenean genus Cichlidogyrus appears to be particularly species rich, and previous studies have demonstrated extremely high levels of host specificity in the megadiverse littoral cichlid communities (Gillardin et al, 2011;Vanhove et al, unpublished). Here, Pariselle et al (2015) describe a new Cichlidogyrus species and show that this species parasitizes a range of distantly related host species within the benthopelagic deepwater cichlid genus Bathybates, suggesting that reduced host specificity may represent an adaptation to low host availability in deep water habitat.…”