KHAWIA SAUROGOBII N. SP (CESTODA: CARYOPHYLLIDEA) FROM FRESHWATER FISH SAUROGOBIO SPP. (CYPRINIDAE) IN CHINA

Khawia saurogobii n. sp. is described from the intestine of the cyprinid fishes Saurogobio dabryi and Saurogobio dumerili in China. The new species belongs to the Lytocestidae and is placed in Khawia because of its afossate scolex, vitelline follicles in the cortical parenchyma, uterus not looping anterior to the cirrus sac, gonopores separate but close together in distinct genital atrium, external seminal vesicle absent, and postovarian follicles present. The new species differs from other congeneric species by the shape of the body markedly tapering posteriorly from the end of the anterior third, the shape of the scolex that is very short and markedly wider than the neck, spatulate without incisions, but shallow superficial grooves, vitelline follicles and testes starting immediately posterior to the scolex, and an ovary with long, posterior arms bent medially, thus giving the shape of an inverted A.

Genetic differentiation in populations of the cestode Bothriocephalus acheilognathi (Cestoda, Pseudophyllidea) as revealed by eight microsatellite markers

The genetic structure of populations of the fish cestode, Bothriocephalus acheilognathi collected from Bailianhe Reservoir (BLH), Changshou (CSH) and Liangzi (LZH) Lakes was investigated by using 8 microsatellite loci. A total of 108 adult worms were genotyped at each of the 8 loci. For the 3 populations, the mean number of alleles per locus ranged from 2.38 to 5.5, and the mean expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.432 to 0.559. The average polymorphic information content (PIC) was from 0.384 to 0.492. The significant F-is values indicated non-random mating within LZH and BLH populations. On the other hand, when samples were further classified into subpopulations at the level of host fish species, no or little heterozygote deficiency was detected at most loci, showing that cross-fertilization, predominantly, but not exclusively, must have occurred within the subpopulations. Microsatellite markers also revealed an unexpected high level of genetic differentiation, as measured by R-st and N-m values or by deltau(2) genetic distance among subpopulations from different hosts. Factors influencing the population genetic structure and the parasite host specificity are discussed.

Is the genus Digramma synonymous to the genus Ligula (Cestoda : Pseudophyllidea)? Evidence from ITS and 5 ' end 28S rDNA sequences

The genus Digramma (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea) described by Cholodkovsky in 1915 differs from the genus Ligula only by the number of the reproductive organs per proglottis. However, the occurrence of transitional forms in Digramma raises much confusion concerning its generic validity. In the present study, cestodes previously designated as Digramma and Ligula were collected from lakes in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and also from Qinghai Lake on Qingzang plateau, China. The entire internal transcribed spacer of the ribosomal DNA (ITS rDNA) and 5' end of 28S rDNA were compared between the Digramma and Ligula specimens. The low level of nucleotide variation between the two genera may imply that cestodes in the genus Digramma are paraphyletic to the Ligula genus, and Digramma is a synonym of Ligula. However, whether previously identified Digramma cestodes represent different species in the genus Ligula requires further investigation.

Molecular variation of Bothriocephalus acheilognathi Yamaguti, 1934 (Cestoda : Pseudophyllidea) in different fish host species based on ITS rDNA sequences

The molecular variation in Bothriocephalus acheilognathi Yamaguti, 1934 from 11 species of freshwater fish collected in Australia, China, the Czech Republic, England and Hawaii was investigated by determining the nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region. The length of the first and second internal transcribed spacer sequences of multiple individuals ranged from 553 to 571 bp and 553 to 615 bp, and the G + C content from 53.1 to 53.5%. The percentage sequence divergence varied between 0 and 0.9% in the ITS1 and 0 and 6.6% in the ITS2, respectively, indicating the occurrence of intraspecific variation. It is demonstrated that the fragment length variation resulted primarily from microsatellite polymorphisms present in the ITS region, especially in the ITS2 region. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that B. acheilognathi examined in this study consisted of three closely related genotypes with certain degrees of host-specificity, and the genotype representing isolates from Cyprinus carpio L. was the most common and diverse form within the species B. acheilognathi.

Ultrastructure of the excretory system of Trilocularia acanthiaevulgaris (Cestoda, Tetraphyllidea).

The fine structure of the excretory system in the juvenile (plerocercoid-like) form of Trilocularia acanthiaevulgaris is described. The flame cell bears a bunch of 50-70 cilia, which are anchored in the cytoplasm by means of basal bodies possessing striated rootlets. All the cilia in the