Abstract
The coastline of Argentine Patagonia in the Southwest Atlantic provides highly productive habitats for a variety of aquatic birds. Both resident birds and migratory birds coming for wintering from the high arctic tundra, converge in these wetlands for resting and feeding, which favours parasite transmission. In the course of helminth diversity survey in Patagonian birds, we found a new digenean species belonging to the genus Parorchis (Philophthalmidae). Herein, we describe its complete life cycle and provide the morphological description accompanied by DNA sequence data. Adult specimens were obtained from the resident Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus (Laridae), and Nearctic migratory shorebirds, the Baird’s Sandpiper Calidris bairdii and the White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis (Scolopacidae). Rediae of the new species were found in the muricid gastropod Trophon geversianus (Muricidae), whose distribution is restricted to the intertidal and subtidal marine south coasts of Argentina and Chile. Sequences of complete ITS and partial 28S regions confirmed the conspecificity of the rediae from T. geversianus and adults specimens recovered from L. dominicanus and C. fuscicollis. Cercariae emerge from these molluscs and quickly encyst on the substrate including surfaces of the mollusc itself; shorebirds become infected by eating snails. We examine phylogenetic affinities of the new species using partial 28S sequences. Our analysis placed the new species in a clade with other Parorchis spp., which also use muricid gastropods as intermediate hosts. This study contributes to the knowledge of the diversity of marine trematodes in the subpolar region of South America.
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Data availability
Type and voucher specimens were deposited in the Helminthological Collection of Museo de La Plata and the Parasitological Collection of IBIOMAR; all genetic data have been deposited in Genbank. Supplementary tables are associated to this manuscript. Other data that support this study will be shared upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Miguel Angel Díaz “Hormiga”, Marcelo Bertellotti and Verónica D’Amico for their help in obtaining hosts, Guillermo Panisse for his invaluable help in processing some birds, María Cristina Estivariz for her help with drawings, and Patricia Sarmiento from Servicio de Microscopía Electrónica de Barrido from Museo de La Plata. We also thank June Johnson for the English language review.
Funding
Present study was supported by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET, PIP 0698), Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT, PICT-0525), and Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP- N859) for JID, and grant DEB-1120734 from the National Science Foundation, USA, for VVT.
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JID conceived, designed and supervised research. All authors contributed with methodology and data analysis. JID, SC, CG and FC wrote the original draft text. JD, SC and EL prepared the figures. JID, SC and VT reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of this manuscript.
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All samples were taken in compliance with all appropriate research permissions given by Secretaría de Turismo y Áreas Protegidas of Chubut, Río Negro, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego Provinces.
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Diaz, J.I., Capasso, S., Gilardoni, C. et al. Complete life cycle of Parorchis trophoni sp. nov. (Digenea: Philophthalmidae) from the Southwestern Atlantic coast, Argentina, revealed by morphological and molecular data. Polar Biol 46, 737–748 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-023-03158-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-023-03158-0