ABSTRACT
Metacercariae of Diplostomum petromyzifluviatilis (Digenea, Diplostomidae) from the brain of European river lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis from the Baltic Sea basin and Arctic lamprey Lethenteron camtschaticum from the White Sea basin were studied with the use of genetic and morphological methods. Phylogenetic analysis based on cox1 marker showed that the parasites of both lamprey species were conspecific with Diplostomum sp. Lineage 4 of Blasco-Costa et al. (2014). The name Diplostomum petromyzifluviatilis Müller (Diesing, 1850) has historical precedence as a species described from the brain of lampreys and should be used in genus nomenclature. There were no morphological qualitative differences between the metacercariae from the two lamprey species but those from L. fluviatilis were larger than those from L. camtschaticum. We expanded the data on the second intermediate hosts and the localization of D. petromyzifluviatilis, showing that its metacercariae occur not only in the brain of lampreys but also in the brain and the retina of three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus and the vitreous humour of the perch Perca fluviatilis across the European part of the Palearctic.
Subject(s)
Smegmamorpha , Trematoda , Animals , Brain , Host Specificity , Metacercariae , PhylogenyABSTRACT
Animal world is one of the main sources of information on ageing and longevity. Several animal species are used to explore the evolution of ageing and to find the remedies to extend human longevity. However, about a third of animal phyla, and usually less, are mentioned in the relevant reviews. We analysed the entire animal world in context of longevity studies choosing for the analysis one of its most general characteristics - the limits of variation of life spans within the main groups. We performed a systematic review of the sources on all groups of animals of the class level and meta-analysis of the values of life spans within them.
