Abstract
The detection of three Gongylonema sp. infective larvae in two specimens of the dung beetle Geotrupes mutator (Marsham, 1802) from western Spain is reported here for the first time in Europe. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed that the analyzed specimens belong to the genus Gongylonema, but it was not possible to determine the species identity by the lack of morphological information in the literature and because many of the phenotypic characteristics had not yet fully developed at this juvenile stage. Nevertheless, a phylogenetic analysis using amplified cox1 nucleotide sequences has revealed that the studied larvae could be clearly discriminated (< 89% identity) from all the other Gongylonema cox1 sequences available in public genetic databases. While our results are limited by the scarcity of genetic information available for this genus, the possibility that the analyzed specimens might correspond to a new species should not be ruled out, and more studies are needed. The results provided in this report indicate that G. mutator is involved in the transmission cycle of Gongylonema sp. to vertebrates in Europe.
Highlights
Under the functional name of “dung beetles”, approxi mately 9,500 worldwide species have been grouped into the Aphodiinae, Scarabaeinae, and Geotrupinae subfamilies of the superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Löbl and Smetana, 2016)
We aim to improve the knowledge about these relationships by describing, for the first time, a Gongylonema species hosted by a European Geotrupinae species, and comparing the genetic relationships of the specimens found with other nematode taxa by analyzing the mitochondrial cox1 genetic sequences
A total of 551 dung beetle specimens were analyzed and three nematode infective larvae were detected in two specimens of Geotrupes mutator (Marsham, 1802), indicating a prevalence of 0.36% over the total of beetle specimens sampled
Summary
Under the functional name of “dung beetles”, approxi mately 9,500 worldwide species have been grouped into the Aphodiinae, Scarabaeinae, and Geotrupinae subfamilies of the superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Löbl and Smetana, 2016). As dung beetle species are in close contact with animal and human faeces, they may act as hosts for a wide variety of pathogenic bacteria and/or viruses, as well as eukaryotic parasites favouring their dispersion and transmission (Nichols et al, 2017). This is true for different platyhelminthes (flatworms) and nematode (roundworms) belonging to the genera Gongylonema, Spirocerca, Ascarops, Acanthocephalus, Macracanthorynchus, or Physo cephalus (Poinar, 1975). We aim to improve the knowledge about these relationships by describing, for the first time, a Gongylonema species hosted by a European Geotrupinae species, and comparing the genetic relationships of the specimens found with other nematode taxa by analyzing the mitochondrial cox genetic sequences
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