Record of Some Digeneans, Infecting Freshwater Fishes, Snails, and Amphibians in India, Using 28S Ribosomal DNA Marker

Abstract

Eleven species of digenetic trematodes are recorded herein in an attempt to chart the trematode biodiversity in Kakraiya Lake of District Barabanki, U.P., infecting freshwater fishes, snails, and frogs. The species are Opisthorchis attuai and Isoparorchis hypselobagri from Wallago attu; Diplostomulum minutum from Heteropneustes fossilis; Buchephalopsis karvai from Xenentodon cancila; Cephalogonimus mukerjius, and Kaurma sp. from Pila globosa; Pseudodiplodiscoides murtyi from Bellamya bengalensis; Mesocoelium sociale from Duttaphrynus melanostictus; Diplodiscus amphichrus, Halipegus mehransis, and Halipegus barabankiensis n.sp. from Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis. Among the eight species considered as valid so far O. attuai, I. hypselobagri, M. sociale, B. karvai, P. murtyi, D. amphichrus, H. mehransis and C. mukherjius have been described well only at the adult stage, whereas the morphology of D. minutum, and Kaurma sp. at the metacercarial stage has been described, which further awaits to trace their life cycle. The present results show that H. barabankiensis represents distinct entities from a molecular and morphological point of views, which leads to the description of a new species. All these trematode species were subjected to morphological, morphometric, and molecular analysis. Partial nucleotide sequences of the 28S ribosomal gene were obtained from these trematode species and deposited in the GenBank. The phylogenetic reconstruction based on the 28S rRNA gene placed the studied species within the respective families, and their validity is discussed.