Morphological and molecular identification of Gyrodactylus bubyri Osmanov, 1965 (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae) from Caucasian dwarf goby, Knipowitschia caucasica (Berg) (Actinopterygii: Gobionellidae) from a Black Sea lagoon

Abstract

Gyrodactylus bubyri Osmanov, 1965, a monogenean parasite of Caucasian dwarf goby Knipowitschia caucasica (Berg) described from Aral Sea and subsequently reported from the same host from Strymon River, Greece, is recorded from Atanasovsko Lake, Bulgarian Black Sea coast (the first record of G. bubyri from the Black Sea basin). The species is redescribed by light and scanning electron microscopy as well as the ITS rDNA sequence is obtained. As comparative materials, specimens of G. bubyri from K. caucasica (Strymon River), G. charon Vanhove and Huyse in Vanhove et al., 2014 from Knipowitschia milleri (Acheron Delta, Greece) and G. micropsi Gläser, 1974 from Potamoschistus microps from North Sea (Belgium) are studied. Comparative morphology and molecular data demonstrate that G. micropsi is a junior synonym of G. bubyri (new synonymy). The validity of G. charon is questioned, pending examination of additional materials in order to prove it as a distinct species or as a junior synonym of G. bubyri.