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Broad geographic analyses reveal varying patterns of genetic diversity and host specificity among echinostome trematodes in New Zealand snails

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2014

DEVON B. KEENEY*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Le Moyne College, 1419 Salt Springs Road, Syracuse, New York 13214-1301, USA
JASON PALLADINO
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Le Moyne College, 1419 Salt Springs Road, Syracuse, New York 13214-1301, USA
ROBERT POULIN
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
*
*Corresponding author: Department of Biological Sciences, Le Moyne College, 1419 Salt Springs Road, Syracuse, New York 13214-1301, USA. E-mail: keeneydb@lemoyne.edu

Summary

Host specificity is a fundamental component of a parasite's life history. However, accurate assessments of host specificity, and the factors influencing it, can be obscured by parasite cryptic species complexes. We surveyed two congeneric species of intertidal snail intermediate hosts, Zeacumantus subcarinatus and Zeacumantus lutulentus, throughout New Zealand to identify the number of genetically distinct echinostome trematodes infecting them and determine the levels of snail host specificity among echinostomes. Two major echinostome clades were identified: a clade consisting of an unidentified species of the subfamily Himasthlinae and a clade consisting of five species of the genus Acanthoparyphium. All five Acanthoparyphium species were only found in a single snail species, four in Z. subcarinatus and one in Z. lutulentus. In contrast, the Himasthlinae gen. sp. was found in both hosts, but was more prevalent in Z. lutulentus (97 infections) than Z. subcarinatus (10 infections). At least two of the Acanthoparyphium spp. and the Himasthlinae gen. sp. are widespread throughout New Zealand, and can therefore encounter both snail species. Our results suggest that host specificity is determined by host–parasite incompatibilities, not geographic separation, and that it can evolve in different ways in closely related parasite lineages.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

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