DOI: 10.2478/cjf-2024-0014
Original scientific paper
GENETIC VARIABILITY OF TWO EVOLUTIONARY DISTINCT CLASSES OF THE ACANTHOCEPHALA ISOLATED FROM EUROPEAN CHUB FROM RIVERS OF THE ADRIATIC AND BLACK SEA BASINS IN CROATIA
2024, 82 (3) p. 111-119
Tena Radočaj, Irena Vardić Smrzlić, Ivan Špelić, Jurica Jug-Dujaković, Ana Gavrilović
Abstract
The aim of our study was to investigate the genetic variability of two members of two evolutionary different classes of Acanthocephala, Eoacanthocephala (Neoechinirhynchus sp.) and Palaeacanthocephala (Acanthocephalus sp.), from the same host, Squalius cephalus, from rivers belonging to the Adriatic (rivers in Lika region: Lika, Novčica, Bogdanica and Jadova) and Black Sea basins (Medsave location on the Sava River) in Croatia. The samples were collected from May 2021 to July 2022. To put the genetic position of the analyzed acanthocephalans in a broader context, the COI sequences of the other specimens from the NCBI GenBank were used. BLAST analysis of partial COI sequences of acanthocephlans showed presence of two different species: Acanthocephalus sp. and Neoechinorhynchus sp. Acanthocephalus sp. specimens did not shown different grouping related to geographic origin (Bogdanica, Lika, Jadova) or Black Sea basin (Medsave-Sava River). Acantocephalus cluster was subdivided into five main subclusters, and 13 haplotypes were determined. When we compared our haplotypes with those from the NCBI Gen Bank, our haplotypes were closes to the A. anguillae specimens from the Kupa River and Dobra River from Croatia, and also to the haplotypes from Austria. For the species Neoechinorhynchus sp. from the river Lika and those from the NCBI Gen Bank, out of five specimens, four haplotypes were found. This genus was recorded for the first time in the area of the Lika River, and for the first time in European chub in Croatia. The closest species Neoechinorhynchus sp. from Austria and Finland were grouped separately. Due to the lack of NCBI GenBank data for this species from other geographical regions could not be compared to our data. This shoewd that the taxonomy of the genus Neoechinorhynchus from Europe remains a challenge and underline the need for more DNA sequence data and in depth morphological examination.