Two new species of Gyrodactylus von Nordmann, 1832 parasitizing Cnesterodon decemmaculatus (Poeciliidae) from the southern limit of the family in the Neotropical region

Abstract

In this study, we followed an integrative taxonomy approach to describe two new species of Gyrodactylus von Nordmann, 1832, and to identify specimens of G. breviradix Vega, Razzolini, Arbetman, and Viozzi, 2019, all three collected from ten spotted live-bearer Cnesterodon decemmaculatus (Jenyns, 1842), an endemic and widespread poeciliid from the Pampean region, which is the southernmost occurring species of the Poeciliidae in the Americas. Gyrodactylids were first characterized morphologically and mophometrically, and when possible, sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) and the cytochrome oxidase II (COII) were used to delimit species. Gyrodactylus breviradix, Gyrodactylus marplatensis n. sp., and Gyrodactylus pampeanus n. sp. were found on the fins and body surface of C. decemmaculatus in La Tapera Creek, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires province, Argentina. A phylogenetic analysis combining newly generated sequences of one of the new species, G. marplatensis n. sp., and of G. breviradix, along with those available in GenBank for a further 36 species of Gyrodactylus, revealed that G. marplatensis n. sp. is a sister taxon of Gyrodactylus decemmaculati Vega, Razzolini, Arbetman, and Viozzi, 2019. Genetic distances for the ITS and COII gene were estimated among Gyrodactylus spp. and further supported the validity of the new species. Overall, morphometric and molecular data coincided in delimiting the new taxa, thus demonstrating the value of integrative taxonomy for the erection of new species of Gyrodactylus and species identification.