Morphometric and molecular identification ofArgulus japonicus(Thiele 1900) in vulnerable Himalayan snow trout,Schizothorax richardsonii(Gray 1832)

Abstract

Snow trout (Schizothorax richardsonii) is an vulnerable cold-water cyprinid fish distributed widely in riverine stretches of the Trans-

Classical morphology and DNA barcoding based identification of freshwater ectoparasite, Argulus foliaceus in rohu Labeo rohita

“…The current study does not reconstruct the phylogeny of Argulus species, but an endeavour to differentiate the species using phylogenetic clustering pattern, resulted in a clear clustering of the test organism with A. foliaceus and thereby confirmed the species as A. foliaceus. Appropriate morphological and molecular identification can generate knowledge on species diversity and biology which will help in devising better immunoprophylactic measures (Saravanan et al, 2017;Tandel et al, 2021). The present study employed species delineation by DNA based molecular method to complement the finding of classical morphological taxonomy.…”

<i>Argulus japonicus</i> (Branchiura: Argulidae) parasitic on largemouth bass <i>Micropterus</i> <i>salmoides</i> in Japan, with the morphology of the adult female of the argulid

“…Recently, using GenBank, molecular identification has been applied to A. japonicus and its populations (Wadeh et al, 2010;Tandel et al, 2021) but considerable variation is found between populations within the same country and those in different countries (Wadeh et al, 2010). There is, however, the possibility that molecular data of misidentified congeneric species have been registered at GenBank as those of A. japonicus.…”

Complete Mitogenome sequencing of the fish louse Argulus japonicus (Crustacea: Branchiura): Comparative analyses and phylogenetic implications

“…Traditionally, A. japonicus surveillance relies on morphology-based identification and differentiation ( 5 , 19–21 ). However, such taxonomic scrutiny often faces challenges due to the need for experienced microscopists to accurately identify and distinguish A. japonicus from other related species, especially at the larval stages ( 1 , 3 ).…”

“…Therefore, obtaining a more efficient and reliable way to identify and differentiate A. japonicus or larvae has become crucial for field diagnosis and epidemiological investigation, and achieving this goal is foreseeable only through the utilization of molecular approaches. Recently, molecular tools employing genetic markers from the nuclear and mitochondrial (mt) DNA offer a fast and sensitive approach to unveiling the genetic makeup and phylogenetic relationships of targeted species and have been widely used for species-specific identification and differentiation among various organisms, including Argulus ( 13 , 19 , 22–25 ). For example, nuclear genetic markers, including small ribosomal protein 18 (18S), OPC19, and OPH11, have been employed to explore the genetic diversity and species identification of Argulus parasites ( 6 , 19 , 26 , 27 ).…”