Systematic analysis of the Diplostomidae and Strigeidae (Trematoda).

A systematic analysis of the genera in the Diplostomidae and Strigeidae was made using the Proterodiplostomidae as the outgroup. The Proterodiplostomidae was the family with the greatest preponderance of primitive characters and its monophyly was supported by the unique paraprostate gland. However, no character state supported the monophyly of the Diplostomidae sensu Dubois, 1970. That paraphyletic taxon was composed of 3 monophyletic groups: the pseudosuckerless Neodiplostomidae n. fam. had the most primitive character states of the 3 and its monophyly was based on characters in the neascus/neodiplostomulum metacercariae; the Bolbophoridae n. fam., with pseudosuckers, had its monophyly supported by characters present in the newly named prodiplostomulum metacercaria; and the emended Diplostomidae, also with pseudosuckers, had the most derived states and its monophyly was supported by characters present in the diplostomulum. The presence of pseudosuckers united the Bolbophoridae n. fam., the emended Diplostomidae, and the Strigeidae as a monophyletic assemblage. The Strigeidae had the most derived characters of these 3 taxa and its monophyly was supported by characters in the tetracotyle and the cup-shaped forebody and bilobed tribocytic organ of the adult. In general, the adult stages of these strigeoid families showed very conserved morphology and it was the metacercariae that possessed the innovations. The conserved adult morphology was typical of what one might expect if the intramolluscan stages were analyzed. Thus, the data were concordant with the view that the mollusc and vertebrate definitive host were the original hosts to the Digenea and that the second intermediate host and metacercaria were more recently intercalated. More specifically, the phylogeny of these groups suggested that ancestral bisegmented strigeoids originally infected reptiles, they subsequently radiated into birds with which they coevolved extensively, and on 5 separate occasions they radiated into mammals. The radiations into mammals were, by all available evidence, preceded by second intermediate host shifts from fish to amphibians.