Confirmation of \u3ci\u3ePseudolepidapedon balistis\u3c/i\u3e In the Acanthocolpidae (Digenea) Based On Phylogenetic Analysis of Ribosomal DNA

Abstract

Psuedolepidapedon balistis Manter, 1940 is reported from the grey triggerfish, Balistis capriscus Gmelin, 1789, from off Destin, Florida in the northern Gulf of Mexico. A fragment of ribosomal DNA comprising a short portion of the 3\u27 end of 18S nuclear rDNA gene internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (=ITSI + 5.85 rDNA gene + ITS2) and the 5\u27 end of the 228S rDNA gene (including variable domains D1-D3) was sequenced for the species and deposited in GenBank. The fragment of 28S rDNA gene was aligned with similar fragments from 25 other digenean species, including 14 species of acanthocolpids, and a Bayesian Inference phylogenetic analysis was conducted on the alignment. The resulting phylogram confirmed that Pseudolepidapedon Yamaguti, 1938 belongs in the family Acanthocolpidae Lühe, 1906. Neoapocreadium viguerasi (Zhukov, 1983) Ahmad, 1987 is considered a junior synonym of P. balistis