Trematodes of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia: emerging patterns of diversity and richness in coral reef fishes

The Great Barrier Reef holds the richest array of marine life found anywhere in Australia, including a diverse and fascinating parasite fauna. Members of one group, the trematodes, occur as sexually mature adult worms in almost all Great Barrier Reef bony fish species. Although the first reports of these parasites were made 100 years ago, the fauna has been studied systematically for only the last 25 years. When the fauna was last reviewed in 1994 there were 94 species known from the Great Barrier Reef and it was predicted that there might be 2,270 in total. There are now 326 species reported for the region, suggesting that we are in a much improved position to make an accurate prediction of true trematode richness. Here we review the current state of knowledge of the fauna and the ways in which our understanding of this fascinating group is changing. Our best estimate of the true richness is now a range, 1,100–1,800 species. However there remains considerable scope for even these figures to be incorrect given that fewer than one-third of the fish species of the region have been examined for trematodes. Our goal is a comprehensive characterisation of this fauna, and we outline what work needs to be done to achieve this and discuss whether this goal is practically achievable or philosophically justifiable

Larval trematodes infecting the South-American intertidal mud snail Heleobia australis (Rissooidea: Cochliopidae)

Larval trematodes infecting the snail Heleobia australis (Cochliopidae) from the Bahía Blanca estuary, Argentina were surveyed for two years. A total of 7,504 snail specimens was dissected and the larval stages of 15 different trematodes were recovered and examined morphologically. These larvae included four species that had previously been reported from H. australis in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina: the heterophyid Ascocotyle (Phagicola) longa and the microphallids, Maritrema bonaerense, Maritrema orensense, and Microphallus simillimus. Three other species, the echinostomatid Stephanoprora uruguayensis, the microphallid Levinseniella cruzi, and the psilostomid Psilochasmus oxyurus are reported here for the first time as parasites of H. australis. Eight other trematodes found in H. australis are described and placed in the appropriate superfamilies, families or genera (Cryptogonimidae, Apocreadiidae, Aporocotylidae, Notocotylidae, Haploporidae, Renicolidae, Himasthla, and Renicola). The prevalence of the trematode taxa infecting H. australis in the Bahía Blanca estuary was low (20%). Microphallidae were the richest and the most prevalent family, probably because of the high abundance of crabs — the second-intermediate hosts of certain microphallid species — and the considerable diversity of gulls. Here we compare the parasite assemblage found in the H. australis from Bahía Blanca estuary with other parasite assemblages infecting Heleobia spp. and other rissooids from the rest of the world.Fil: Alda, Maria del Pilar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores; ArgentinaFil: Martorelli, Sergio Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores; Argentin

Molecular detection of parasites (Trematoda, Digenea: Bucephalidae and Monorchiidae) in the European flat oyster Ostrea edulis (Mollusca: Bivalvia)

Members of the globally distributed bivalve family Ostreidae (oysters) have a significant role in marine ecosystems and include species of high economic importance. In this work, we report the occurrence of digenean parasites of the families Bucephalidae (Prosorhynchoides sp.) and Monorchiidae (Postmonorchis sp.) in Mediterranean native populations of Ostrea edulis (but not in the introduced Magallana gigas). Molecular detection was based on DNA sequencing of the ribosomal intergenic spacer 2 (ITS2) marker. The importance of detecting the presence of overlooked digenean parasites in Mediterranean oysters is discussed. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

First Record of Echinoparyphium recurvatum (Trematoda, Echinostomatidae) in Pakistan with New Avian Definitive Host, Vanellus leucurus

Parasitological examinations of White-tailed Lapwing Vanellus leucurus (Charadriiformes: Charadriidae) collected from Dadu district (Sindh Province, Southern Pakistan) were carried out at the Department of Zoology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro. A total of 64 trematodes belonging to the genus Echinoparyphium [1], were collected from the small intestine of two individual hosts. On the basis of the number and varying size of collar spines, number and size of ventral spines, body shape, arrangement of genital organs, distribution of vitellaria and other diagnostic characters, these trematodes were identified as Echinoparyphium recurvatum [2]. Our study provides the first Pakistan record of the trematode E. recurvatum with also the first record of V. leucurus as avian definitive host

Diagnosis of centrocestus formosanus infection in zebrafish (Danio rerio) in Italy: A window to a new globalization-derived invasive microorganism

Centrocestus formosanus is a digenetic trematode with a complex life cycle, involving invertebrate and vertebrate hosts, humans included. In particular, it causes gill lesions and mortality in freshwater fish species, and gastrointestinal symptoms in infected humans. Here, we describe the occurrence of C. formosanus infection in zebrafish imported in Italy and propose a newly designed species-specific primer pair to ameliorate the diagnostic investigations for C. formosanus. Gill arches of 30 zebrafish were examined for the presence of encysted metacercariae under a stereomicroscope and processed through molecular analyses targeting the ribosomal internal transcribed sequence 2 (ITS2). Although C. formosanus distribution was originally restricted to Asia, it has been subsequently reported in new countries, revealing itself as an invasive species and raising important concerns for biodiversity, economy, scientific research, as well as animal and public health. Given the crucial role played by the ornamental fish industry in spreading this parasite, there is an urgent need for control measures to prevent the introduction and establishment of C. formosanus in non-endemic areas, including Europe. We also suggest developing new strategies in microbiology and epidemiology to better explore this new globalization-derived invasive species

Cercariae (Digenea: Strigeidae, Diplostomidae) in Biomphalaria straminea (Planorbidae) from a rice field in Northeastern Argentina

The rice fields can provide habitats for many species of aquatic invertebrates, as insects, molluscs, crustaceans; and vertebrates, as fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds, which may act as hosts in the life cycles of digenean parasites. In this context, the goal of the present study was to describe the cercariae found in Biomphalaria straminea from a rice field in Northeastern Argentina. This freshwater snail inhabits a wide variety of environments, favoring shallow, temporary and standing or slow-flowing freshwater bodies. For this study, snails were collected from the cultivated parcels and irrigated channels during the flooding periods (from the time of sowing to soon after harvesting of the rice) between December 2010 and May 2011 and December 2011 and April 2012, in a rice field from Corrientes province, one of the main rice producers of Argentina. A total of 5 510 snails were examined of which 26 were infected with three different larval trematodes belonging to Strigeidae, Furcocercaria V (0.40 %) and Furcocercaria XX (0.04 %), and Diplostomidae, Furcocercaria XIX (0.04 %). Furcocercaria XX and Furcocercaria XIX were present in one rice cultivation cycle, while Furcocercaria V was present in both rice cultivation cycles. The prevalence of the different furcocercariae was somewhat higher in the second rice cultivation cycle. The cercariae described are new records for Argentina that added to 53 cercariae previously reported for Biomphalaria spp. in different aquatic environments of country. The study of the digenean larval in rice fields is important because contribute to the knowledge of the biodiversity of these environments.Fil: Fernández, María Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Hamann, Mónika Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; Argentin

Checklist of the Helminth Parasites of South American Bats

My Brazilian co-author paid for this paper to be open--access.Copyright © 2001-2015 Magnolia Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article