Two new species of Gyrodactylus von Nordmann, 1832 from Profundulus oaxacae (Pisces: Profundulidae) from Oaxaca, Mexico, studied by morphology and molecular analyses

Abstract

In the present study, two new species of Gyrodactylus are described from Profundulus oaxacae, a fish endemic to the Pacific slope of Oaxaca State, Mexico. Fishes were collected within their distribution range in 5 localities in the Atoyac-Verde River. Gyrodactylus montealbani n. sp. and G. zapoteco n. sp. were erected and characterized morphologically (sclerites of the attachment apparatus and the male copulatory organ) and molecularly (sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacer region of rDNA). The haptoral sclerites of the new species are similar to those of Gyrodactylus iunuri and Gyrodactylus tepari, both recently described from the goodeid fish Goodea atripinnis, from the Mexican States of Jalisco and Querétaro, respectively; and to Gyrodactylus xtachuna described from the poeciliid Poeciliopsis gracilis in Veracruz State, Mexico – nonetheless, these species can all be discriminated based on their marginal hook morphology. Specimens of G. montealbani n. sp. and G. zapoteco n. sp. were sequenced, and were aligned with sequences of 25 other Gyrodactylus spp. Both Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses indicated that the two new species are members of independent, well-supported lineages – these are the first Gyrodactylus species described from Profundulus oaxacae.