A revision of the genus Aphalloides (Digenea: Cryptogonimidae), parasites of European brackish water fishes

Abstract

Trematodes of the genus Aphalloides Dollfus, Chabaud & Golvan, 1957 reach maturity in their second intermediate host, small fishes of the family Gobionellidae, genera Pomatoschistus and Knipowitschia. Two morphologically similar species have been described from European waters: Aphalloides coelomicola Dollfus et al., 1957 in the Mediterranean Sea (including the brackish Black Sea region) and Aphalloides timmi Reimer, 1970 in the Baltic Sea. There was no difference in morphology and morphometry for specimens corresponding to A. coelomicola and A. timmi and examination of the 28S rDNA sequence confirmed the similarity. Based on these results, these two species are synonymized and A. coelomicola redescribed.

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