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Taxonomic approaches to and interpretation of host specificity of trematodes of fishes: lessons from the Great Barrier Reef

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2011

T. L. MILLER ,
R. A. BRAY  and
T. H. CRIBB
T. L. MILLER*
Affiliation:
Biodiversity Program, Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
R. A. BRAY
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
T. H. CRIBB
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Tel: +61 0432 158 502. E-mail: terrence.miller@uqconnect.edu.au
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Summary

The taxonomy of trematodes of Great Barrier Reef (GBR) fishes has been studied in some detail for over 20 years. Understanding of the fauna has been informed iteratively by approaches to sampling, understanding of morphology, the advent of molecular methodology and a feed-back loop from the emergent understanding of host specificity. Here we analyse 658 host-parasite combinations for 290 trematode species, 152 genera and 28 families from GBR fishes. These are reported from 8 orders, 38 families, 117 genera and 243 species of fishes. Of the 290 species, only 4 (1·4%) have been reported from more than one order of fishes and just 23 (7·9%) infect more than one family; 77·9% of species are known from only one genus, and 60% from only one species of fish. Molecular studies have revealed several complexes of cryptic species and others are suspected; we conclude that no euryxenous host distribution should be accepted on the basis of morphology only. The occurrence of individual trematode species in potential hosts is patchy and difficult to predict reliably a priori or explain convincingly a posteriori. These observations point to the need for a vigorous iterative interaction between the accretion of host specificity data and its interpretation.

Keywords

DigeneafishesGreat Barrier Reefhost specificitysystematicstaxonomyTrematoda
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 138 , Special Issue 13: Systematics as a cornerstone of parasitology , November 2011 , pp. 1710 - 1722
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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