Molecular phylogenetic position and the life cycle of Phyllodistomum cyprini Feng et Wang, 1995 in Japan, with a note of a larval Phyllodistomum sp. from unionid mussels in North America

Abstract

A gorgoderid species, Phyllodistomum cyprini Feng et Wang, 1995 obtained from ureters of common carp, Cyprinus carpio in Japan is described both morphologically and molecularly. Its larval stage is a macrocercous cercaria found in a unionid mussel, Nodularia nipponensis first described by Urabe et al. (2015). A molecular phylogenetic study revealed that P. cyprini is not closely related to rhopalocercous cercariae from unionid mussels both in Europe and North America. This result indicates that there are several distinct clades in Phyllodistomum species that use unionid mussels as a first intermediate host, and suggests that the cercarial morphology may be a more accurate indicator of the phylogeny of Phyllodistomum than molluscan host identity.