Diversity and Ancestry of Flatworms Infecting Blood of Nontetrapod Craniates “Fishes”

Proterometra epholkos sp. n. (Digenea: Azygiidae) from Terrapin Creek, Alabama, USA: Molecular characterization of life cycle, redescription of Proterometra albacauda, and updated lists of host and geographic locality records for Proterometra spp. in North America

“…Including the present study, molecular sequence data exist only for Proterometra sp. [43] and P. epholkos, despite marked advances in molecular systematics of trematodes [76]. Sequence data for the commonly applied markers (ITS2, 18S, 28S) can help throw light on the identity of species that have been reported in the literature.…”

“…Ootype dorsal or anterior to ovary, directing anteriad, anterior to testes 70-115 (91, 3) long, 30-45 (38, 3) in maximum width, Mehlis gland indistinct. Uterus extensively convoluted, intercecal posterior to ventral sucker, may extend lateral to ceca anterior to ventral sucker, occupying space between posterior third of oral sucker and ovary, comprising a field 1020-1500 (1191, 7) long or 46-65% (54%, 7) of body length and 460-1040 (890, 7) wide or 56-85% (75%, 7) of body width, passing ventral sucker dextrally or sinistrally, thin-walled for entire length 45-100 (76,7) in maximum width typically with hundreds of eggs, with proximal portion comprising a uterine seminal receptacle and distal portion comprising a metraterm; uterine seminal receptacle with sperm; metraterm 315-635 (471, 5) or 14-32% (22%, 5) of body length, 45-60 (54, 5) wide, confluence with uterus anterior to the medial axis of the ventral sucker, transverse, sinistral or dextral, extending slightly anteriad and transverse from distal end of uterus, becoming confluent with ejaculatory duct to form a common duct (=herein a 'hermaphroditic duct') within sinus organ (Figs. 9, 10).…”

Parasite component community of smalltooth sawfish off Florida: diversity, conservation concerns, and research applications

“…and B. torpedinis, have been reported from other host species, and some, like a free-swimming juvenile specimen of Livoneca sp., are likely transient and may even qualify as inci dental. Mycteronastes caalusi and the undescribed aporocotylid, however, are probably specific to smalltooth sawfish (Benz & Bullard 2004, Orélis-Ribeiro et al 2014. Notably, D. pristidis and N. inpristi, both putative specialists on smalltooth sawfish, are already known to form niche pairings with distinct but related species of monogenoids reported from largetooth sawfish Pristis pristis (Linnaeus, 1758) (sensu Faria et al 2013) and dwarf sawfish P. clavata Garman, 1906 collected in Australia.…”

Constraining the Deep Origin of Parasitic Flatworms and Host-Interactions with Fossil Evidence

“…There is at least some evidence that extinction might also have played a role in parasitic flatworms and other helminths over longer timescales as several parasiteehost associations documented in the (sub)fossil record are now evidently extinct (Upeniece, 2001(Upeniece, , 2011Poinar and Boucot, 2006;Wood et al, 2013). Furthermore, molecular studies with greater taxonomic coverage have particularly focused on biomedically or economically important taxa such as Schistosomatidae (Lockyer et al, 2003b;Orélis-Ribeiro et al, 2014) or particular lineages with a high host specificity such as Polystomatidae (Bentz et al, 2001(Bentz et al, , 2006Badets et al, 2011Badets et al, , 2013Héritier et al, 2015). To better Figure 6 Ultrametric tree of neobatrachian polystomes inferred from MULTIDIVTIME (Modified after Verneau et al (2009b).).…”