Document of bibliographic reference 332107

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

First freshwater mussel-associated piscicolid leech from East Asia

Abstract

Parasites and symbionts of freshwater mussels are poorly understood, although a diverse assemblage of mussel-associated leeches (Glossiphoniidae) was recently described. Here, we report on the discovery of a fish leech (Piscicolidae) in the mantle cavity of the freshwater mussel Cristaria plicata (Unionidae) in the Russian Far East. It is the first member of this leech family being associated with freshwater molluscs. This leech does not match any known genus and species both morphologically and genetically, and is described here as Alexandrobdella makhrovi gen. & sp. nov. It uses mussels as shelter (and probably as a secondary host), while the Amur catfish Silurus asotus (Siluridae) seems to be the primary host. These novel findings indicate that mussel-associated leech assemblage contains at least one piscicolid species. Our fossil-calibrated phylogeny suggests that the crown group of Piscicolidae was originated in the Early Cretaceous. This primarily marine family shares at least five independent colonization events into freshwater environments.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000595259200026

Bibliographic citation

Bolotov, I.N.; Klass, A.L.; Konopleva, E.S.; Bespalaya, Y.V.; Gofarov, M.Y.; Kondakov, A.V.; Vikhrev, I.V. (2020). First freshwater mussel-associated piscicolid leech from East Asia. NPG Scientific Reports 10(1): 19854. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76854-0

Topic

Fresh water

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true