<i>Oswaldocruzia ukrainae</i> (Nematoda: Molineidae)—A Parasite of European Green Toad <i>Bufotes viridis</i>: Morphological and Molecular Data
2023
Nadezhda Yu. Kirillova | Alexander A. Kirillov | Sergei V. Shchenkov | Igor V. Chikhlyaev
Nematodes of the genus <i>Oswaldocruzia</i> are common parasites of the small intestine of amphibians and reptiles. Our recent molecular analysis of <i>Oswaldocruzia</i> nematodes revealed that only <i>Oswaldocruzia filiformis</i>, which possesses high morphological variability, parasitizes amphibians and reptiles in European Russia. Here we present the study of <i>Oswaldocruzia</i> nematodes from the European green toad <i>Bufotes viridis</i> (Anura, Bufonidae) collected at different localities of the Middle Volga region in 2018–2022. We analyzed the morphological characteristics of the <i>Oswaldocruzia</i> spp. taxonomy together with novel molecular phylogenetic data. The data on phylogenetic analysis (based on partial CoxI mtDNA gene sequences) showed that <i>Bufotes viridis</i> is parasitized by two <i>Oswaldocruzia</i> species, the host-specific parasite <i>Oswaldocruzia ukrainae</i> and species generalist <i>Oswaldocruzia filiformis</i>. Broad morphological variability was revealed in <i>O. ukrainae</i> nematodes both from the same host specimen and from various toad individuals from different localities. Our results highlight the need for further biodiversity research of morphologically similar <i>Oswaldocruzia</i> species from amphibians and reptiles in the Western Palearctic using molecular genetic methods.
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