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Morphological description and molecular characterization of Ancyracanthus electrophori n. sp. (Gnathostomatoidea: Gnathostomatidae): a new nematode parasitic in the electric eel Electrophorus varii (Gymnotiformes: Gymnotidae), from the Brazilian Amazon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2023

L.R. Virgilio ,
A. Nogueira ,
R.M. Takemoto ,
M.D. Passere ,
A.V. de Oliveira ,
D.U.O. Meneguetti ,
M.A. Camargo  and
F.B. Pereira Open the ORCID record for F.B. Pereira [Opens in a new window]
L.R. Virgilio
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia, Bionorte, Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil
A. Nogueira
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Ecologia Aquática, Universidade Federal do Acre, Campus Floresta, Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil
R.M. Takemoto
Affiliation:
Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura, Laboratório de Ictioparasitologia e de Genética Molecular, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
M.D. Passere
Affiliation:
Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura, Laboratório de Ictioparasitologia e de Genética Molecular, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
A.V. de Oliveira
Affiliation:
Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura, Departamento de Biotecnologia, Genética e Biologia Celular, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
D.U.O. Meneguetti
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil
M.A. Camargo
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil
F.B. Pereira*
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Taxonomia e Ecologia de Helmintos, Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
*
Author for correspondence: F.B. Pereira, E-mail: felipebisaggiop@hotmail.com
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Abstract

A new species of Ancyracanthus, parasite of the electric eel Electrophorus varii, in the Brazilian Amazon, is described based on morphological and molecular characterization. Ancyracanthus electrophori n. sp. differs from the two congeners namely, Ancyracanthus pinnatifidus and Ancyracanthus schubarti, based on the structure of cephalic appendages, number and arrangement of caudal papillae in males, vulva very close to anus in females, eggs with smoothly mamillated shell, host taxon and geographical origin. Moreover, the new species is the first in the genus to be described with thorny cuticular rings and to be observed with the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The morphology of A. pinnatifidus and A. schubarti is still poorly-known and should be revised in details; however, the separation between them and the new species was clear. Genetic characterization based on 28S rDNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) mtDNA partial sequences, performed for the first time in Acyracanthus, along with phylogenetic reconstructions using both genetic markers, placed Ancyracanthus electrophori n. sp. in a suggestive basal position within Gnathostomatidae. Phylogenetic reconstructions using cox1 sequences also suggested lack of monophyly in the genera Gnathostoma and Spiroxys and, consequently, in the subfamilies Gnathostominae and Spiroxyinae. However, such results are preliminary. With the first genetic characterization and observations using SEM in Ancyracanthus, resulting in the discovery of a new species and in the expansion of the geographical occurrence of the genus to Amazonian fish, an important step towards a better understanding of these nematodes has been taken.

Keywords

Integrative taxonomyendoparasitefreshwater fishSpiruromorphaElectrophorinaeNeotropical regionNematoda
Type
Research Paper
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 97 , 2023 , e9
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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