Paniagua E, Vilas R, Sanmartín M L, Santamarina M T, Leiro J M, Ubeira F M
Facultad de Farmacia, Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Santiago de Compostela, España.
Parasite. 1999 Mar;6(1):89-91. doi: 10.1051/parasite/1999061089.
Species within the genus Helicometra are difficult to distinguish on morphological grounds alone, and are best discriminated with the aid of biochemical techniques. In the work reported here, the electrophoretic mobility of malate dehydrogenase isoenzyme of the Mdh-1 locus was used to characterize 375 individuals of Helicometra obtained from various teleost species (Anguilla anguilla, Conger conger, Gobius niger or Ciliata mustela) caught off the coast of northwest Spain. The results suggest that all specimens belong to only one species, probably H. fasciata. Observed genotype frequencies did not differ from those expected under the assumptions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, even when the genic frequencies differ considerably respecting a Mediterranean population.
