Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #82163
Title: PRELIMINARY PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF SUBFAMILIES OF THE PROTEOCEPHALIDEA (EUCESTODA)

Author
item REGO, ARANDAS - INST OSWALDO CRUZ, BRAZIL
item DE CHAMBRIER, ALAIN - NAT HIST MUSEUM,SWITZERLD
item HANZELOVA, VLADKA - INST PARASITOL.,SLOVAK RP
item Hoberg, Eric
item SCHOLZ, TOMAS - INST PARASITOL.,CZECH REP
item WEEKES, PETER - COM DIS CENTRE, NEW ZEALD
item ZEHNDER, MARC - UNIV NEUCHATEL,SWITZERLND

Submitted to: Systematic Parasitology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Proteocephalidean tapeworms are the primary tapeworm parasites of catfishes throughout the world, with some groups also being economically important as parasites among freshwater teleost fishes. Diagnostics and an understanding of host-parasite interac- tions, which constitute the basis for management and control, are dependent on studies in systematics. The first comprehensive phylogenetic study of the proteocephalidean subfamilies provides novel morphological information and an assessment of the evolution- ary relationships among parasites and their hosts. Such baseline data are requisite to accurate identification of economically important parasites and necessary for documentation and recognition of emerging problems. This is linked to the development of a general understanding of the patterns of geographic and host association typical of these cestodes.

Technical Abstract: Cladistic analysis, based on comparative morphology was used to examine the subfamily-level relationships of the cestode order Proteocephalidea. A single most parsimonious tree was produced (CI= 0.571), which specified monophyly for the order and diagnosed to major subclades, the Proteocephalidae (with 4 subfamilies) and the Monticelliidae (with 6 subfamilies); the Acanthotaeniinae (historically in the Proteocephalidae) and the Nupeliinae (in the Monticelliidae) were placed basal to all other taxa. Zoogeographi- cal analysis revealed a strong Gondwanan association. Coevolutionary analysis revealed that the siluriform fishes (catfish) are the basal hosts for proteocephalideans in fishes; subsequent diversification involved colonization of other teleosts, reptiles and amphibians. This represent the first comprehensive analysis of the order.