Four marine digenean parasites of Austrolittorina spp. (Gastropoda: Littorinidae) in New Zealand: morphological and molecular data

Abstract

Littorinid snails are one particular group of gastropods identified as important intermediate hosts for a wide range of digenean parasite species, at least throughout the Northern Hemisphere. However nothing is known of trematode species infecting these snails in the Southern Hemisphere. This study is the first attempt at cataloguing the digenean parasites infecting littorinids in New Zealand. Examination of over 5,000 individuals of two species of the genus Austrolittorina Rosewater, A. cincta Quoy & Gaimard and A. antipodum Philippi, from intertidal rocky shores, revealed infections with four digenean species representative of a diverse range of families: Philophthalmidae Looss, 1899, Notocotylidae Lühe, 1909, Renicolidae Dollfus, 1939 and Microphallidae Ward, 1901. This paper provides detailed morphological descriptions of the cercariae and intramolluscan stages of these parasites. Furthermore, partial sequences of the 28S rRNA gene and the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) for varying numbers of isolates of each species were obtained. Phylogenetic analyses were carried out at the superfamily level and along with the morphological data were used to infer the generic affiliation of the species.