RESUMEN
During a study of the monogeneans of four sparid fishes (Diplodus vulgaris, Pagellus bogaraveo, Pagrus pagrus and Sparus aurata) from the Western Mediterranean off Algeria, a large collection of parasites was characterised molecularly (28S rRNA and cox1 genes). A total of 46 partial sequences (23 for each gene) were generated from 38 isolates of monogeneans which included four species (Atrispinum acarne, Microcotyle erythrini (sensu stricto), Sparicotyle chrysophrii and Prostatomicrocotylinae gen. sp.) of the family Microcotylidae, two putative species of the family Capsalidae (Encotyllabe spp.), and one species (Choricotyle chrysophryi) of the family Diclidophoridae. Our study provides (i) the first molecular data for the Capsalidae in the Mediterranean; (ii) the first record of a member of the Prostatomicrocotylinae in the Mediterranean and in a sparid fish (D. vulgaris); (iii) the first cox1 sequences for A. acarne; (iv) the second record of M. erythrini (s.s.) from P. pagrus; and (v) the second confirmed by molecular data record of S. chrysophrii in wild populations of S. aurata. The first phylogenetic hypotheses for the family Microcotylidae developed here, revealed the monophyly of the subfamily Prostatomicrocotylinae and the genus Microcotyle but the relationships among the subfamilies were still largely unresolved with the best represented subfamily Microcotylinae being polyphyletic. Our results highlight the importance of molecular methods in the assessment of monogenean diversity and the need for a thorough taxon-sampling approach to increase the accuracy of phylogenetic reconstruction of the relationships of the large and taxonomically complex polyopisthocotylean family Microcotylidae.
RESUMEN
Molecular and morphological data were gathered for specimens of species of Macvicaria Gibson & Bray, 1982 and Pseudopycnadena Saad-Fares & Maillard, 1986 (Digenea: Opecoelidae) collected from two sparid fishes, Diplodus vulgaris (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire) and Sparus aurata L., off the Algerian coast of the Western Mediterranean. Phylogenetic analyses based on ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and partial 28S rDNA sequences provided evidence for the distinct species status of eight Mediterranean species of Macvicaria. Novel molecular data are provided for four species, M. gibsoni n. sp. and M. crassigula (Linton, 1910) (sensu stricto) based on specimens from D. vulgaris, and M. mormyri (Stossich, 1885) and M. maamouriae Antar, Georgieva, Gargouri & Kostadinova, 2015 based on specimens from S. aurata; descriptions of the molecular voucher material of the former three species are provided. Two species were delineated within the "crassigula" species complex of Macvicaria, M. gibsoni n. sp. and M. crassigula (s. str.), the distinctive differentiating features being the distribution of the dorsal vitelline fields in the forebody, confluent in M. gibsoni n. sp. and non-confluent in M. crassigula (s. str.), and the molecular data for both markers. Sequences associated with morphological description are also provided for the type-species of Pseudopycnadena, P. fischthali Saad-Fares & Maillard, 1986, based on material from D. vulgaris.