Monogenean fauna of deepwater cichlids in Lake Tanganyika: Do they follow the evolutionary history of their hosts?
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| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Lake Tanganyika is a well-known study area localized in the African Rift Valley. It is a remarkable place famous for adaptive radiation processes of many taxa including cichlids (Cichlidae; Perciformes). Surprisingly, research focusing on the parasitic fauna of Tanganyika cichlids has been overlooked for many decades, but has been intensified during the last five years. To date, there are still only 25 formally described parasite species of the class Monogenea (Platyhelminthes) reported to infect cichlids of Lake Tanganyika. Monogeneans are monoxenous ectoparasites characterising by a relatively high degree of host specificity. One of the species named Cichlidogyrus casuarinus displays a decrease in host preference, suggested to be an adaptation to low host availability. It was already collected from three representatives of the tribe Bathybatini. What about the other hosts in Lake Tanganyika’s depths? Is the monogenean community really species-depauperate there? Our samples originate from different parts of the lake and represent 11 host species from three cichlid tribes. Collected parasites specimens were examined by morphometrics as well as genetic analyses. Geomorphometrics was added to investigate in detail the shape of informative sclerotized structures at the intraspecific level. The results confirmed the previous status of C. casuarinus as a generalist species, now reported from six bathybatine hosts. On the other hand, Trematocara unimaculatum belonging to the same tribe is infected by a different monogenean species which is new for science. Moreover, the list of parasites occurring in this lake’s depths was enriched by another Cichlidogyrus species collected from Benthochromis horii. Comparative morphological analysis showed discrepancy between host and parasite phylogeny of Gnathochromis and its monogenean fauna. |
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