BACKGROUND: Lake Tana is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. The lake harbours unique endemic cyprinid fish species, as well as the commercially important endemic Nile tilapia subspecies Oreochromis niloticus tana and the North African catfish Clarias gariepinus. Its endemicity, especially within the Labeobarbus radiation, its conservation importance and its economic indispensability attract scientific interest to the lake's ichthyofauna. Fish parasites of Lake Tana, however, are hitherto poorly known, and no formal report exists on its monogenean flatworms. For sustainable aquaculture and fisheries development, it is essential to study monogenean fish parasites in these economically most important fish species. Moreover, it remains to be verified whether this unique ecosystem and its endemicity gave rise to a distinct parasite fauna as well. RESULTS: Nile tilapia and North African catfish hosts were collected from Lake Tana in 2013. Nine species of monogenean parasites of two orders, Gyrodactylidea Bychowsky, 1937 and Dactylogyridea Bychowsky, 1937, were recovered. Gyrodactylus gelnari Přikrylová, Blažek & Vanhove, 2012, Macrogyrodactylus clarii Gussev, 1961, Quadriacanthus aegypticus El-Naggar & Serag, 1986 and two undescribed Quadriacanthus species were recovered from C. gariepinus. Oreochromis niloticus tana hosted Cichlidogyrus cirratus Paperna, 1964, C. halli (Price & Kirk, 1967), C. thurstonae Ergens, 1981 and Scutogyrus longicornis (Paperna & Thurston, 1969). CONCLUSIONS: Except for M. clarii, all species represent new records for Ethiopia. This first study on the monogenean fauna of Lake Tana revealed that the lake's North African catfish, as well as its endemic Nile tilapia subspecies, harbour parasites that are known from these host species elsewhere in Africa.

• Keywords
• Cichlidogyrus, Dactylogyridea, Gyrodactylidea, Gyrodactylus, Macrogyrodactylus, Monogenea, Perciformes, Quadriacanthus, Scutogyrus, Siluriformes,
• MeSH
• Cestode Infections parasitology   veterinary   MeSH
• Cichlids parasitology   MeSH
• Lakes parasitology   MeSH
• Fish Diseases parasitology   MeSH
• Platyhelminths classification   genetics   isolation & purification   physiology   MeSH
• Seafood economics   parasitology   MeSH
• Catfishes parasitology   MeSH
• Gills parasitology   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Ethiopia MeSH

Proteocephalidean tapeworms form a diverse group of parasites currently known from 315 valid species. Most of the diversity of adult proteocephalideans can be found in freshwater fishes (predominantly catfishes), a large proportion infects reptiles, but only a few infect amphibians, and a single species has been found to parasitize possums. Although they have a cosmopolitan distribution, a large proportion of taxa are exclusively found in South America. We analyzed the largest proteocephalidean cestode molecular dataset to date comprising more than 100 species (30 new), including representatives from 54 genera (80%) and all subfamilies, thus significantly improving upon previous works to develop a molecular phylogeny for the group. The Old World origin of proteocephalideans is confirmed, with their more recent expansion in South America. The earliest diverging lineages are composed of Acanthotaeniinae and Gangesiinae but most of the presently recognized subfamilies (and genera) appear not to be monophyletic; a deep systematic reorganization of the order is thus needed and the present subfamilial system should be abandoned. The main characters on which the classical systematics of the group has been built, such as scolex morphology or relative position of genital organs in relation to the longitudinal musculature, are of limited value, as demonstrated by the very weak support for morphologically-defined subfamilies. However, new characters, such as the pattern of uterus development, relative ovary size, and egg structure have been identified, which may be useful in defining phylogenetically well-supported subgroups. A strongly supported lineage infecting various snakes from a wide geographical distribution was found. Although several improvements over previous works regarding phylogenetic resolution and taxon coverage were achieved in this study, the major polytomy in our tree, composed largely of siluriform parasites from the Neotropics, remained unresolved and possibly reflects a rapid radiation. The genus Spasskyellina Freze, 1965 is resurrected for three species of Monticellia bearing spinitriches on the margins of their suckers.

• Keywords
• Eucestoda, Proteocephalidae, Spasskyellina, host-parasite associations, molecular phylogeny, systematics,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Tapeworms of the genus Wenyonia Woodland, 1923 (Caryophyllidea: Caryophyllaeidae), parasites of catfishes in Africa, are revised. This revision is based on material from large-scale sampling, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Senegal and the Sudan between 2006 and 2009, and the examination of all of the type-specimens available. The following six species are considered valid and their redescriptions are provided: Wenyonia virilis Woodland, 1923 (type-species; new synonym W. kainjii Ukoli, 1972); W. acuminata Woodland, 1923; W. longicauda Woodland, 1937; W. minuta Woodland, 1923 (new synonym W. mcconnelli Ukoli, 1972); W. synodontis Ukoli, 1972; and W. youdeoweii Ukoli, 1972. A key to the identification of Wenyonia spp. is provided and numerous new hosts and geographical records are reported. A comparative phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences of the 28S rRNA gene of four species divided the monophyletic genus into two lineages, one represented by W. acuminata and W. minuta and another one composed of W. virilis and W. youdeoweii.

• MeSH
• Cestoda anatomy & histology   classification   genetics   isolation & purification   MeSH
• DNA, Helminth chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal Spacer chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• Microscopy MeSH
• Molecular Sequence Data MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 28S genetics   MeSH
• Sequence Analysis, DNA MeSH
• Cluster Analysis MeSH
• Catfishes parasitology   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH
• Geographicals
• Africa MeSH
• Names of Substances
• DNA, Helminth MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal Spacer MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 28S MeSH