Mitogenomic analysis of the position of the Azygiidae and constituent genera, with a new species of Azygia

Abstract

The Azygiidae Looss, 1899 is a family of digeneans with a Holarctic distribution in which members of some genera mature in marine elasmobranchs while others occur only in freshwater teleosts. Some have questioned whether the marine genus Otodistomum Stafford, 1904 indeed belongs to the same family as the freshwater azygiid genera, namely Azygia Looss, 1899, Proterometra Horsfall, 1933, and Leuceruthrus Marshall and Gilbert, 1905. We present phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial genomes, rDNA operons, and partial Cox1 cytochrome c oxidase I sequences from North American and Asian species that support the monophyly of Azygiidae, and placement of Azygioidea in the suborder Hemiurata, in contrast to recently published mitochondrial genome phylogenies. All phylogenies indicate that Azygia includes Leuceruthrus, which we therefore propose to be a junior synonym, together with suppression of the Leuceruthrinae. The status of Proterometra was equivocal, with support in some but not all analyses of 28S, but not in other markers. We describe a new species of Azygia from northeastern North America. Our results confirm the morphological variability of adults in Azygia, with worm size positively correlated with host size in Azygia angusticauda. Phylogenies suggest a marine origin for the Azygiidae, and a Palearctic origin for freshwater azygiids, with a single trans-Atlantic radiation to the Nearctic.