The High Divergence of Two Morphologically Similar Trematode Species of the Genus Nanophyetus of Salmonids from the Data of mtDNA nad1 Gene Sequences

Abstract

Intestinal flukes of fish (mainly salmonids) belonging to the genus Nanophyetus (Trematoda: Troglotrematidae) are the causative agents of nanophyetiasis, a zoonotic disease of animals and humans, which is widespread in countries in the northern Pacific. Two geographical forms, one from North America and the other from the eastern Eurasia were described within this genus; however, their taxonomic status was debatable. A multilocus analysis of nuclear rDNA sequences applied in this study has shown that these forms are independent nominal species: Nanophyetus salmincola and Nanophyetus schikhobalowi. This study, based on sequencing the mtDNA nad1 gene, has evaluated the genetic variability of N. schikhobalowi from eastern Eurasia (Russia) and compared our data with the results obtained for N. salmincola from North America (United States). The genetic differentiation within the Eurasian sample was 1.4%, that for the North American sample was 0.8%, and differentiation between the samples was 15.5%. High values of genetic divergence and completed sorting of mitochondrial haplotypes confirmed the species independence of the compared geographic forms of Nanophyetus.