Exploring the genetic diversity of Tylodelphys (Diesing, 1850) metacercariae in the cranial and body cavities of Mexican freshwater fishes using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences, with the description of a new species.

Members of the genus Tylodelphys Diesing, 1850 are endoparasites of fish-eating birds, particularly ciconiids, anhingids, and podicipedids across the globe. Metacercariae of Tylodelphys spp. were collected from the cranial and body cavities of freshwater fishes in central and northern Mexico; adults were recovered from the intestine of two species of freshwater diving birds of the family Podicipedidae, commonly known as grebes, in two locations of central Mexico. Specimens were sequenced for two molecular markers, the internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) plus 5.8S gene of the nuclear ribosomal DNA and of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 from mitochondrial DNA. The genetic divergence among the 25 samples (16 metacercariae and 9 adults) and between the newly sequenced specimens and those deposited in the GenBank were estimated. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses inferred with each data set revealed the existence of five genetic lineages. Eight metacercariae analyzed in this study were nested in two divergent lineages previously recognized as Tylodelphys sp. 5 and Tylodelphys sp. 6 (sensu Locke et al., Int J Parasitol, 45:841-855, 2015). Five adult specimens recovered from the intestine of the least grebe (Tachybaptus dominicus Linnaeus, 1766) in Tecocomulco Lake, Hidalgo State, nested in a single clade with other sequences identified previously as Tylodelphys aztecae, expanding its distribution range in other areas of central Mexico. The isolates of the metacercariae found in the cranial cavity of the shortfin silverside, Chirostoma humboldtianum Valenciennes, 1835 from Zacapu Lake in central Mexico formed a monophyletic lineage and were recognized as an undescribed species of Tylodelphys. The lack of adult specimens of this lineage in our samples prevented a formal description. However, the metacercariae collected in the cranial cavity of the silverside, Chirostoma jordani Woolman, 1894 and the adult specimens recovered from the intestine of the western grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis (Lawrence, 1858) from Cuitzeo Lake formed a monophyletic clade, allowing us to link both stages of the life cycle and to describe this as a new species, Tylodelphys kuerepus n. sp. The new species represents the eighth species of the genus described in the Americas and the fourth in the Nearctic region. We briefly discuss the ecological associations between the metacercariae and their second intermediate hosts in relation to the genetic diversity patterns uncovered in our study.