Molecular data reveal high diversity of Uvulifer (Trematoda: Diplostomidae) in Middle America, with the description of a new species.

Members of the genus Uvulifer are distributed worldwide and infect aquatic snails and freshwater fishes as first and second intermediate hosts, respectively, and fish-eating birds (kingfishers) as definitive hosts. Metacercariae of Uvulifer spp. were collected from the fins and skin of 20 species of freshwater fishes in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and the adults were recovered from the intestine of kingfishers in four localities of Mexico. The genetic divergence among 76 samples (64 metacercariae and 12 adults) was estimated by sequencing the 28S and 5.8S nuclear genes, as well as the internal transcribed spacers ITS1 and ITS2, and one mitochondrial gene (cox1). Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses inferred with each dataset showed a high genetic diversity within the genus Uvulifer across Middle America, revealing the existence of four genetic lineages that exhibit some level of host specificity to their second intermediate hosts. The metacercariae of lineage 1 were associated with characids and cyprinids in central and northern Mexico. Metacercariae of lineages 2 and 3 were associated with cichlids distributed widely across Middle America. The lack of adults of these lineages in kingfishers, in lineages 2 and 3, or the fact that just a few adult specimens were recovered, as in lineage 1, prevented a formal description of these species. The metacercariae of lineage 4 were found in poeciliids, across a distribution range comprising Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, and the adult was found in the green kingfisher in Mexico. The number of specimens sampled for lineage 4, for both gravid adults and metacercariae, allowed us to describe a new species, Uvulifer spinatus n. sp. We describe the new species herein and we discuss briefly the genetic diversity in Uvulifer spp. and the importance of using DNA sequences to properly characterize parasite diversity.