Status of Corynosoma (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) based on anatomical, ecological, and phylogenetic evidence, with the erection of Pseudocorynosoma n. gen.
The possession of genital spines has been considered as a key taxonomic trait to differentiate Corynosoma from other genera of the Polymorphidae. However, Corynosoma currently consists of 2 groups of species with clear ecological and morphological divergences: the "marine" group (with ca. 30 species) infects mammals and piscivorous birds in the marine realm, whereas the "freshwater" group (with ca. 7 species) infects waterfowl in continental waters. Species from these groups differ in shape of body and neck, trunk spination, lemnisci length and shape, testes arrangement, and number and shape of cement glands. We tested whether species from these 2 groups formed a monophyletic assemblage bas…
Phylogenetic relationship among genera of Polymorphidae (Acanthocephala), inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial gene sequences.
Abstract Acanthocephalans of the family Polymorphidae Meyer, 1931 are obligate endoparasites with complex life cycles. These worms use vertebrates (marine mammals, fish-eating birds and waterfowl) as definitive hosts and invertebrates (amphipods, decapods and euphausiids) as intermediate hosts to complete their life cycle. Polymorphidae has a wordwide distribution, containing 12 genera, with approximately 127 species. The family is diagnosed by having a spinose trunk, bulbose proboscis, double-walled proboscis receptacle, and usually four to eight tubular cement glands. To conduct a phylogenetic analysis, in the current study sequences of the small (18S) and large-subunit (28S) ribosomal RN…