Abstract
Seven new species of Dactylogyrus Diesing, 1850 (Dactylogyridae) are described from the gills of seven endemic species of cyprinoids (Cyprinidae, Leuciscidae) inhabiting the Balkan Peninsula: Dactylogyrus romuli n. sp. from Luciobarbus albanicus (Greece), Dactylogyrus remi n. sp. from Luciobarbus graecus (Greece), Dactylogyrus recisus n. sp. from Pachychilon macedonicum (Greece), Dactylogyrus octopus n. sp. from Tropidophoxinellus spartiaticus (Greece), Dactylogyrus vukicae n. sp. from Delminichthys adspersus (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Dactylogyrus leptus n. sp. from Chondrostoma knerii (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Dactylogyrus sandai n. sp. from Telestes karsticus (Croatia). To delineate species boundaries, we used an integrative taxonomic approach combining morphological and genetic data. With these tools, we illustrate that some species of monogeneans considered as cryptic might be designated as pseudocryptic (morphologically similar, not easily differentiated) after a posteriori detailed morphological examination, as happened with D. romuli n. sp. and D. remi n. sp. Thus, for accurate species characterization, it is particularly important to acquire both morphological and molecular data from the same individual specimens, ideally along with illustrations of taxonomically important structures directly taken from hologenophores. Using phylogenetic reconstruction, we investigated the phylogenetic position of newly described Dactylogyrus species within Dactylogyrus species from Balkan cyprinoids with regard to morphological characteristics, host range, and geographical distribution.
Highlights
The Mediterranean basin of the Balkan Peninsula is recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot [49]
Seven cyprinoid fish species from the Balkan Peninsula were examined for monogeneans: Chondrostoma knerii (n = 5; 165–200 mm in total length); Delminichthys adspersus (n = 10; 58–66 mm in total length); Luciobarbus albanicus (n = 4; 70–173 mm in total length); L. graecus (n = 10; 86–156 mm in total length); Pachychilon macedonicum (n = 8; 61–88 mm in total length); Telestes karsticus (n = 10; 66–85 mm in total length), and Tropidophoxinellus spartiaticus (n = 5; 84–116 mm in total length)
A recent study carried out in the Balkan Peninsula [4] revealed eight potentially new Dactylogyrus species on two species of cyprinids (L. albanicus, and L. graecus) and five species of leuciscids (C. knerii, D. adspersus, P. macedonicum, T. spartiaticus, and T. karsticus). Seven of these species are described on the basis of integrated morphological and molecular data; the Dactylogyrus species found on S. tenellus was not identified to species level due to an insufficient number of specimens
Summary
The Mediterranean basin of the Balkan Peninsula is recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot [49] The fauna of this region is characterized by the exceptionally high diversity and endemism of freshwater fishes, especially Cypriniformes [40, 50]. Only a few studies [3, 4, 77] have focused on investigating the distribution and phylogeny of their host-specific parasites, such as monogeneans, which may reflect the evolutionary history of their associated cypriniform hosts. A number of previously unrecognized (morphologically cryptic) parasite species have been revealed using molecular markers [57]. Dactylogyrus species have many accessible morphological characters (i.e. those of the haptor and the reproductive system) compared to Gyrodactylus spp., cryptic species within this genus have been detected. Benovics et al [4] revealed potential complexes of cryptic species within three Dactylogyrus species (D. rutili Gläser, 1965, D. dyki Ergens & Lucký, 1959 and D. ergensi Molnar, 1964) parasitizing Balkan cyprinids
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