Morphology, Molecules, and Monogenean Parasites: An Example of an Integrative Approach to Cichlid Biodiversity

VAN STEENBERGE, Maarten, Antoine PARISELLE, Tine HUYSE, Filip A.M. VOLCKAERT, Jos SNOEKS and Maarten Pieterjan VANHOVE. Morphology, Molecules, and Monogenean Parasites: An Example of an Integrative Approach to Cichlid Biodiversity. Plos one. San Francisco: Public Library of Science, 2015, vol. 10, No 4, p. 0124474-124515. ISSN 1932-6203. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0124474.

Basic information

• Original name: Morphology, Molecules, and Monogenean Parasites: An Example of an Integrative Approach to Cichlid Biodiversity
• Authors: VAN STEENBERGE, Maarten, Antoine PARISELLE, Tine HUYSE, Filip A.M. VOLCKAERT, Jos SNOEKS and Maarten Pieterjan VANHOVE.
• Edition: Plos one, San Francisco, Public Library of Science, 2015, 1932-6203.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 10600 1.6 Biological sciences
• Country of publisher: United States of America
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Impact factor: Impact factor: 3.057
• Organization unit: Faculty of Science
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0124474
• UT WoS: 000353711600088
• Keywords in English: LAKE TANGANYIKA; ANCYROCEPHALIDAE MONOGENEA; GILL PARASITES; BIOGEOGRAPHICAL IMPLICATIONS; SPECIES PLATYHELMINTHES; EXPLOSIVE SPECIATION; SYSTEMATIC REVISION; ADAPTIVE RADIATION; COLOR MORPHS; TELEOSTEI
• Tags: AKR, NZ
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

The unparalleled biodiversity of Lake Tanganyika (Africa) has fascinated biologists for over a century; its unique cichlid communities are a preferred model for evolutionary research. Although species delineation is, in most cases, relatively straightforward, higher-order classifications were shown not to agree with monophyletic groups. Here, traditional morphological methods meet their limitations. A typical example are the tropheine cichlids currently belonging to Simochromis and Pseudosimochromis. The affiliations of these widespread and abundant cichlids are poorly understood. Molecular work suggested that genus and species boundaries should be revised. Moreover, previous morphological results indicated that intraspecific variation should be considered to delineate species in Lake Tanganyika cichlids. We review the genera Simochromis and Pseudosimochromis using an integrative approach. Besides a morphometric study and a barcoding approach, monogenean Cichlidogyrus (Platyhelminthes: Ancyrocephalidae) gill parasites, often highly species-specific, are used as complementary markers. Six new species are described. Cichlidogyrus raeymaekersi sp. nov., C. muterezii sp. nov. and C. banyankimbonai sp. nov. infect S. diagramma. Cichlidogyrus georgesmertensi sp. nov. was found on S. babaulti and S. pleurospilus, C. franswittei sp. nov. on both S. marginatus and P. curvifrons and C. frankwillemsi sp. nov. only on P. curvifrons. As relatedness between Cichlidogyrus species usually reflects relatedness between hosts, we considered Simochromis monotypic because the three Cichlidogyrus species found on S. diagramma belonged to a different morphotype than those found on the other Simochromis. The transfer of S. babaulti, S. marginatus, S. pleurospilus and S. margaretae to Pseudosimochromis was justified by the similarity of their Cichlidogyrus fauna and the intermediate morphology of S. margaretae. Finally parasite data also supported the synonymy between S. pleurospilus and S. babaulti, a species that contains a large amount of geographical morphological variation.