Ten Sofía, Pool Rachel Vanessa, Raga Juan Antonio, Sweet Andrew D, Aznar Francisco Javier
Marine Zoology Unit, Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Paterna, Valencia, Spain.
Department of Biological Sciences, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR, USA.
Parasitology. 2025 Feb;152(2):195-204. doi: 10.1017/S0031182025000101.
Copepods of the genus parasitize a wide range of marine animals, including cetaceans, teleosts, and cephalopods worldwide. Their taxonomy is unclear, as there is incongruence between morphological and genetic data and incomplete species coverage. This study provides new morphological and genetic (COI) data from 23 specimens of cf. (syn. ) from western Mediterranean whales and a swordfish. First, their position in the phylogeny of was assessed and species delimitation revisited using all available COI sequences ( = 189), obtained from Mediterranean and north Pacific specimens from 18 host species (including multiple cetaceans and teleosts). Second, it was investigated whether the geographic location, degree of host vagility, or host taxonomic identity help explain genetic differentiation. Five distinct haplotype groups with varying genetic divergence were distinguished. Although the presence of sibling species cannot be ruled out, species delimitation methods could not find interspecific genetic differences, leaving the taxonomy of the genus unresolved. The observed genetic differentiation could not be attributed to geography or host type. This suggests that members of the genus show low specificity for definitive hosts and interoceanic dispersal mediated by some vagile definitive hosts. The use of more genetic markers for addressing these questions in the future is encouraged.
属的桡足类寄生于广泛的海洋动物，包括全球范围内的鲸类、硬骨鱼类和头足类动物。它们的分类尚不清楚，因为形态学和遗传学数据不一致，且物种覆盖不完整。本研究提供了来自西地中海鲸鱼和一条剑鱼的23个似 （同物异名 ）标本的新形态学和遗传学（细胞色素氧化酶亚基I，COI）数据。首先，利用从18种宿主物种（包括多种鲸类和硬骨鱼类）的地中海和北太平洋标本中获得的所有可用COI序列（ = 189），评估它们在 的系统发育中的位置，并重新审视物种界定。其次，研究地理位置、宿主活动程度或宿主分类身份是否有助于解释遗传分化。区分出了五个具有不同遗传差异的单倍型组。尽管不能排除同胞物种的存在，但物种界定方法未发现种间遗传差异，该属的分类仍未解决。观察到的遗传分化不能归因于地理或宿主类型。这表明 属成员对终末宿主的特异性较低，并且由一些活动的终末宿主介导跨洋扩散。鼓励未来使用更多遗传标记来解决这些问题。
