Morphological, molecular, and life cycle study of a new species of Oligogonotylus Watson, 1976 (Digenea, Cryptogonimidae) from Colombia

Abstract

The present study describes Oligogonotylus andinus sp. nov. and its life cycle from a rural fish farm in Sopetrán, Antioquia, Colombia. The endemic species of snail Aroapyrgus colombiensis and the fishes Poecilia caucana and Andinoacara latifrons are identified as the first intermediate host, the second intermediate host and the definitive host, respectively. The new species was defined through an integrative approach, combining the traditional morphology of its developmental stages with molecular analyses of the markers ITS2 from ribosomal DNA and COI from mitochondrial DNA. This new species can be distinguished from its congeners by genetic divergence, the position of the vitelline fields, and the number of gonotyls. This work represents the first report of a species of this genus in South America.