Host-Specific Parasites Reveal the History and Biogeographical Contacts of Their Hosts: The Monogenea of Nearctic Cyprinoid Fishes

Abstract

Host-specific parasites exhibit close co-evolutionary associations with their hosts. In the case of fragmented/disjunct host distribution, host-specific parasites may reflect the biogeographical history of regions and/or the role played by contacts of hosts. The present study was focused on Dactylogyrus (Monogenea) species almost exclusively parasitizing cyprinoid fishes. We investigated the phylogenetic relationships between Dactylogyrus parasites of Nearctic cyprinoids (Leuciscidae) and Dactylogyrus parasites of Palearctic cyprinoids and used Dactylogyrus phylogeny to explore the biogeography of fish hosts in Europe and North America. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that two Nearctic clades of Dactylogyrus spp. have different origins. Historical contacts between European and North American leuciscids were accompanied by the host switching of Dactylogyrus species. In the Nearctic region, Dactylogyrus parasites also colonized non-leuciscid fishes. Dactylogyrus spp. of three Nearctic leuciscid clades were included in the phylogenetic reconstruction; only Dactylogyrus spp. of the Plagopterinae had a common origin. Dactylogyrus species did not reflect the phylogenetic relationships among leuciscid clades, suggesting that past co-diversification was overshadowed by colonization events mediated by paleogeographic and climatological changes and extensive drainage reorganization. Host-specific monogeneans serve as a supplementary tool to reveal the historical biogeographical contacts between freshwater fish from the North America and Europe and also contemporary contacts of leuciscids in North America.

Uncovering the monogenean species diversity of cyprinoid fish in Iraq using an integrative approach

“…Nowadays, an integrative approach combining morphological and molecular data is commonly applied in studies on monogeneans. It appears that the diversity of freshwater fish monogeneans revealed by this approach is much higher (Kmentová et al, 2016;Dos Santos and Avenant-Oldewage, 2020;Řehulková et al, 2020, 2021Šimková et al, 2022) than previously expected on the basis of morphology alone. In the current study, we recorded a total of 33 monogenean species on endemic cyprinoids in Iraq.…”

“…Regions containing ITS1 were omitted from the analyses due to ITS1's hypervariability and problematic alignment when comparing phylogenetically divergent taxa (see Benovics et al ., 2018, 2021 a , 2023). Orthologue 18S and 28S sequences from a total of 97 Dactylogyrus species representing all so-far-known (Šimková et al ., 2022) phylogenetic lineages were retrieved from the GenBank database (see supplementary Table 2 for metadata and GenBank accession numbers). The species Ancyrocephalus percae (Ergens 1966) was selected as the outgroup for phylogenetic reconstruction, following Mendoza-Palmero et al .…”

Helminth Communities of Common Fish Species in the Coastal Zone off Crimea: Species Composition, Diversity, and Structure

“…As a result, classical diversity indices (Shannon, Pelou’s evenness, Berger–Parker, and others) have been involved in parasitological studies [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Helminth communities have been shown to vary spatially and temporally [ 35 , 36 ] depending on historical, biogeographical, and ecological factors [ 37 , 38 ], among which the total abundance and, therefore, the availability of potential hosts, has been recognized as being the most important [ 39 , 40 ]. Other significant factors driving fish parasite faunas are characteristics of the locality, predator–prey relationships, relationships between different phylogenetic groups of parasites, and stochastic processes across multiple scales and intensities [ 41 ].…”

Nearctic Dactylogyrus species (Platyhelminthes, Monogenea) parasitizing cypriniform fishes in the context of morphology and phylogeny, with descriptions of seven new species

“…The Cobitoidei (loaches) occur throughout Eurasia and northern Africa, and the Gyrinocheiloidei (algae eaters) are restricted to Southeast Asia [ 28 ]. Their great diversity and wide geographical distribution combined with our increasing knowledge of their phylogenetic relationships make cypriniforms attractive for studying ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes related to their closely associated parasites, such as highly host-specific monogeneans [ 3 – 5 , 81 , 82 ].…”