Molecular characterization of Stictodora tridactyla (Trematoda: Heterophyidae) from Kuwait Bay using rDNA ITS and mtCO1

Abstract

Stictodora tridactyla is an intestinal fluke in the family Heterophyidae that parasitizes shorebirds and mammals, including humans. Its metacercarial cyst stage was reported in the Arabian killifish, Aphanius dispar, at Kuwait Bay. In the present study, Cerithidea cingulata was found to serve as the first intermediate host of S. tridactyla. In order to establish the snail-fish link in the life cycle of S. tridactyla, complete sequences of ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region 1 and 2 (rDNA ITS1 and ITS2) and partial sequence of cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 were obtained for metacercarial cysts isolated from the fish A. dispar and rediae isolated from the snail C. cingulata. Sequence alignment demonstrated that these larval stages belong to the same heterophyid species, S. tridactyla. Phylogenetic analysis based on rDNA ITS1, ITS2, and mtCO1 confirmed the position of S. tridactyla within the Heterophyidae and found it to cluster with Haplorchis spp. The present study represents the first molecular study correlating the larval stages of S. tridactyla using rDNA ITS1, ITS2, and mtCO1 and examining the phylogenetic relationships of S. tridactyla with different heterophyid species.

Molecular characterization and confocal laser scanning microscopic study of Pygidiopsis macrostomum (Trematoda: Heterophyidae) parasites of guppies Poecilia vivipara

“…In the analysis made by Al‐Kandari et al . () for the same region, sequences of P . macrostomum , P .…”

“…pindoramensis and other opisthorchiids species, while Al‐Kandari et al . () used only the opisthorchiid C . sinensis as an outgroup.…”

“…6). In the analysis made by Al-Kandari et al (2015) for the same region, sequences of P. macrostomum, P. summa and C. lingua did not group with other Heterophyidae species. These differences may have occurred because of our addition of A.…”

Thermal optima of cercarial emergence in trematodes from a marine high-temperature ecosystem, the Persian Gulf

“…The establishment and subsequent ourishment of trematodes outside their current range will depend on the presence of the host species needed to complete the life cycle. While knowledge about other intermediate hosts of the studied trematodes is limited, the rst intermediate host P. cingulata of both trematode species and a the second intermediate host of A. tridactyla, the sh A. dispar 37,38 , are both eurytherms with vast geographic distributions 33,55,56 (see the Supplementary Figure S1). Many migrating birds, which may be the trematodes' ultimate hosts, use the Persian Gulf islands and shoreline for resting, feeding, and/or mating [57][58][59] , and may facilitate trematode invasions originating from the Persian Gulf.…”

“…', a cercaria with furcocercous morphology and a prevalence of up to 12% (Khosravi et al unpublished data). A. tridactyla pertains to the family Heterophyidae, has a median dorso-ventral n-fold on the tail, is an active swimmer, uses eye spots to locate the next host (the sh Aphanius dispar; 37,38 , and has rediae as the intragastropod stage (parthenitae). Metacercariae of A. tridactyla have been found under the scale of laboratory-infected Gambusia and in the connective tissue of the head and visceral region of naturally infected Aphanius fasciatus in Red Sea, Egyptian intertidal coasts 39 .…”