First freshwater mussel-associated piscicolid leech from East Asia

Abstract

Parasites and symbionts of freshwater mussels are poorly understood, although a diverse assemblage of mussel-associated leeches (Glossiphoniidae) was recently described. Here, we report on the discovery of a fish leech (Piscicolidae) in the mantle cavity of the freshwater mussel Cristaria plicata (Unionidae) in the Russian Far East. It is the first member of this leech family being associated with freshwater molluscs. This leech does not match any known genus and species both morphologically and genetically, and is described here as Alexandrobdella makhrovigen. & sp. nov. It uses mussels as shelter (and probably as a secondary host), while the Amur catfish Silurus asotus (Siluridae) seems to be the primary host. These novel findings indicate that mussel-associated leech assemblage contains at least one piscicolid species. Our fossil-calibrated phylogeny suggests that the crown group of Piscicolidae was originated in the Early Cretaceous. This primarily marine family shares at least five independent colonization events into freshwater environments.

Aquaculture of Animal Species: Their Eukaryotic Parasites and the Control of Parasitic Infections

“…burrow into the shells of bivalves and excavate U-shaped tunnels that subsequently become filled with compacted mud, causing 'mudblisters' on the shell. Some leeches may lodge in bivalves [87].…”

Helobdella stagnalis (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae), the first facultative mussel-associated leech in Europe

“…It was shown that the freshwater mussel-associated leech assemblage contains not less than 15 glossiphoniid and one piscicolid species globally (Curry & Vidrine 1977a;Curry 1979;Ringuelet 1985;Bolotov et al 2017Bolotov et al , 2019Bolotov et al , 2020. Examples of such associations were described from Asia, Africa, North America, and South America, while none of the records comes from Europe, Australia, and Australasia (Ringuelet 1985;Bolotov et al 2019).…”