Integrative taxonomy uncovers <i>Clinostomum chaacci</i> and an unidentified congeneric metacercaria infecting <i>Hoplosternum littorale</i> (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae) in the Peruvian Amazon Basin.

ABSTRACT: Clinostomum Leidy, 1856 is a cosmopolitan genus of digenean trematodes whose metacercariae commonly infect freshwater fishes and amphibians as second intermediate hosts. In South America, the diversity and taxonomy of Clinostomum metacercariae remain poorly understood, due in part to the morphological similarity of larval stages and the scarcity of molecular data. This study provides the first integrative evidence of two phylogenetically distinct Clinostomum lineages infecting the callichthyid catfish Hoplosternum littorale (Hancock, 1828) (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae), a benthic catfish of commercial and subsistence importance in the Peruvian Amazon. Morphological analyses (light and scanning electron microscopy) combined with molecular data from mitochondrial

SUBMITTER: Chero JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12800625 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature