Triple barcoding for a hyperparasite, its parasitic host, and the host itself: a study of Cyclocotyla bellones (Monogenea) on Ceratothoa parallela (Isopoda) on Boops boops (Teleostei)

Abstract

Cyclocotyla bellones Otto, 1823 (Diclidophoridae) is a monogenean characterised by an exceptional way of life. It is a hyperparasite that attaches itself to the dorsal face of isopods, themselves parasites in the buccal cavity of fishes. In this study, Cy. bellones was found on Ceratothoa parallela (Otto, 1828), a cymothoid isopod parasite of the sparid fish Boops boops off Algeria in the Mediterranean Sea. We provide, for the first time, molecular barcoding information of a hyperparasitic monogenean, the parasitic crustacean host, and the fish host, with COI sequences.

Truly a hyperparasite, or simply an epibiont on a parasite? The case of Cyclocotyla bellones (Monogenea, Diclidophoridae)

“…

Figure 2 Cyclocotyla bellones Otto, 1823, specimen from Ceratothoa parallela from Boops boops , Algeria. A, whole body, MNHN HEL1312 (reproduced from Bouguerche et al, 2021 [ 15 ]); B, male copulatory organ, MNHN HEL1313; C, egg, MNHN HEL1314; D, anterior part, MNHN HEL1313; E, clamp, MNHN HEL1316; F, anatomy at level of ovarian zone, MNHN HEL1315. V., vitellarium.

…”

“…1 ). List of vouchers deposited in the collections of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, see [ 15 ].…”

“…Here, as part of an ongoing effort to characterise the parasite biodiversity of fishes off the Southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea [ 4 – 6 , 12 – 15 , 20 – 23 , 31 , 53 – 55 , 69 , 90 ], we present an illustrated redescription of Cyclocotyla bellones based on material from cymothoid isopods on Boops boops (Linnaeus). Previously, in a triple barcoding study, we confirmed the identity of the hyperparasite monogenean, the crustacean parasite-host and the primary fish hosts [ 15 ]. Here, we mainly address the question of whether the monogenean is truly a hyperparasite, i.e., does it feed on the isopod?…”

A revision ofPlectanocotyle(Monogenea, Plectanocotylidae), with molecular barcoding of three species and the description of a new species from the streaked gurnardChelidonichthys lastovizaoff Algeria

“…A tissue sample of the fish was taken and several monogeneans were extracted; each monogenean was cut in two halves, the posterior half being processed for molecular analysis and the anterior being kept for morphological assessment and preparation of a voucher slide. This ensures that the molecular identification of the host fish and their monogenean parasites correspond perfectly ( Ayadi et al, 2017 ; Azizi et al, 2021 ; Bouguerche et al, 2019a , 2019b , 2019c , 2020 , 2021 ; Justine et al, 2013 ), at the individual fish and parasite level ( Table 1 ). Slides were deposited in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (MNHN), under registration numbers MNHN HEL1652-HEL1750.…”

“…This paper is part of a series on monogeneans of fishes of the South shore of the Mediterranean Sea ( i.e. , Ayadi et al, 2017 ; Azizi et al, 2021 ; Boudaya & Neifar, 2016 ; Bouguerche et al, 2019a , 2019b , 2019c ; Bouguerche, Justine & Tazerouti, 2020 ; Bouguerche et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Chaabane, Neifar & Justine, 2015 ; Chaabane et al, 2016a , 2016b ; Chaabane, Neifar & Justine, 2017 ; Kheddam, Justine & Tazerouti, 2016 , 2020 ).…”