A list and key to the identification of valid species of tapeworms of the Proteocephalus Weinland, 1858 aggregate sensu de Chambrier et al. (2004), i.e. species of the genus occurring in fresh- and brackish-water fishes in the Palaearctic Region, are provided, with data on their hosts and geographical distribution. Instead of 32 taxa listed by Schmidt (1986) and subsequent authors, only the following 14 species are considered to be valid: P. ambiguus (Dujardin, 1845) (type-species); P. cernuae (Gmelin, 1790); P. filicollis (Rudolphi, 1802); P. fluviatilis Bangham, 1925; P. gobiorum Dogiel & Bychowsky, 1939; P. longicollis (Zeder, 1800); P. macrocephalus (Creplin, 1825); P. midoriensis Shimazu, 1990; P. percae (Müller, 1780); P. plecoglossi Yamaguti, 1934; P. sagittus (Grimm, 1872); P. tetrastomus (Rudolphi, 1810); P. thymalli (Annenkova-Chlopina, 1923); and P. torulosus (Batsch, 1786). An analysis of sequences of the nuclear genes (ITS2 and V4 region of 18S rDNA) revealed the following phylogenetic relationships for these taxa: P. torulosus ((P. midoriensis, P. sagittus) (P. fluviatilis (P. filicollis, P. gobiorum, P. macrocephalus)) (P. cernuae, P. plecoglossi, P. tetrastomus ((P. longicollis, P. percae) (P. ambiguus, P. thymalli)))). P. pronini Rusinek, 2001 from grayling Thymallus arcticus nigrescens is synonymised with P. thymalli. P. esocis La Rue, 1911 is apparently invalid but its conspecificity with either P. percae or P. longicollis could not be confirmed due to the absence of the scolex in the holotype and the unavailability of other material for morphological and molecular studies. P. osculatus (Goeze, 1782) has recently been transferred to Glanitaenia de Chambrier, Mariaux, Vaucher & Zehnder, 2004. The validity of the genus is supported by the position of G. osculata within the Proteocephalidea, based on molecular data, as well as its morphology and nature of the definitive host (the European wels Silurus glanis). P. hemispherous Rahemo & Al-Niaeemi, 2001, described from S. glanis in Iraq, is transferred to Postgangesia Akhmerov, 1960 as Postgangesia hemispherous (Rahemo & Al-Niaeemi, 2001) n. comb.

• MeSH
• Cestoda genetics   MeSH
• DNA, Helminth chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal Spacer chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• Molecular Sequence Data MeSH
• Polymerase Chain Reaction MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 5.8S chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• Fishes parasitology   MeSH
• Base Sequence MeSH
• Sequence Alignment MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• DNA, Helminth MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal Spacer MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 5.8S MeSH

This paper presents a redescription of the proteocephalidean cestode Proteocephalus sagittus (Grimm, 1872) based on freshly collected specimens from the type-host, the stone loach Barbatula barbatula (L.) (family Balitoridae), from the Czech Republic. This species has recently been synonymised with P. torulosus (Batsch, 1786), a parasite of cyprinid fishes in the Holarctic Region, but it differs in the following characters: (i) scolex morphology (scolex rounded, with more apically situated suckers and lacking longitudinal wrinkles in P. sagittus versus large and club-shaped, with more laterally situated suckers and longitudinal wrinkles in P. torulosus); (ii) position of the vagina (opens anterior to the cirrus-sac in P. sagittus versus overlapping its distal region dorsally in P. torulosus); (iii) length of the cirrus-sac (shorter in P. sagittus); (iv) osmoregulatory canals (more distinct and situated more laterally, but almost indistinguishable and more medial in P. torulosus); and (v) sequences of the partial 18S rRNA (V4 region - 96.9% similarity) and 5.8S-ITS2 genes (65.9% similarity). P. pamirensis Dzhalilov & Ashurova, 1971, a poorly described species from the Tibetan stone loach Noemacheilus stoliczkai[= Tryplophysa stoliczkae (Steindachner)] in Tadjikistan, is synonymised with P. sagittus.

• MeSH
• Cestoda anatomy & histology   genetics   ultrastructure   MeSH
• DNA, Helminth chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• Cypriniformes parasitology   MeSH
• Microscopy, Electron, Scanning MeSH
• Molecular Sequence Data MeSH
• Polymerase Chain Reaction MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• Base Sequence MeSH
• Sequence Alignment MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• DNA, Helminth MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S MeSH