Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of
Date of this Version
2-1988
Abstract
The phylogenetic analysis of the 16 recognized genera in the Bunocotylinae, based upon 30 morphological transformation series, produced two most parsimonious trees, each with a consistency index of 0.62. The monophyly of the group is supported by 6 synapomorphies. Ahemiurus, Aphanuroides, Aphanurus, Myosaccium, and Indoderogenes separate independently in the basal part of the tree. Saturnius and Bunocotyle separate next, forming a clade. Machidatrema, Duosphincter, Theletrum, and Monolecithotrema separate independently; and in the most derived part of the tree Opisthadena + Neopisthadena + Mitrostoma, Genolinea, and Neotheletrum grouped together form a clade. Optimization of hosts and geographic distribution onto the two most parsimonious trees suggests that the bunocotylines originated from an ancestor that was host specific to fishes of the Clupeidae and was distributed in the Tethys Sea.
Comments
Published in the Journal of Parasitology (February 1998) 84(1): 147-152. Copyright 1998, the American Society of Parasitologists. Used by permission.