Gyrodactylus magadiensis n. sp. (Monogenea, Gyrodactylidae) parasitising the gills of Alcolapia grahami (Perciformes, Cichlidae), a fish inhabiting the extreme environment of Lake Magadi, Kenya.

ABSTRACT: A new species of Gyrodactylus von Nordmann, 1832 is described from the gills of Alcolapia grahami, a tilapian fish endemic to Lake Magadi. This alkaline soda lake in the Rift Valley in Kenya is an extreme environment with pH as high as 11, temperatures up to 42 °C, and diurnal fluctuation between hyperoxia and virtual anoxia. Nevertheless, gyrodactylid monogeneans able to survive these hostile conditions were detected from the gills the Magadi tilapia. The worms were studied using light microscopy, isolated sclerites observed using scanning electron microscopy, and molecular techniques used to genetically characterize the specimens. The gyrodactylid was described as Gyrodactylus magadiensis n. sp. and could be distinguished from other Gyrodactylus species infecting African cichlid fish bas

SUBMITTER: Dos Santos QM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6924288 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature