Description and molecular characteristics of Morishitium polonicum malayense Urabe, Nor Hashim & Uni, n. subsp. (Trematoda: Cyclocoelidae) from the Asian glossy starling, Aplonis panayensis strigata (Passeriformes: Sturnidae) in Peninsular Malaysia

• Published in: Parasitology International Vol. 76; p. 102074
• Main Authors: Urabe, Misako, Nor Hashim, Noorul Ezyan, Uni, Shigehiko, Iwaki, Takashi, Abdullah Halim, Muhammad Rasul, Marzuki, Mohammad Effendi, Mat Udin, Ahmad Syihan, Zainuri, Nur Afiqah, Omar, Hasmahzaiti, Agatsuma, Takeshi, Uga, Shoji, Takaoka, Hiroyuki, Azirun, Mohd Sofian, Ramli, Rosli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.06.2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: air sacs; Animals; Asian glossy starling; Bird Diseases; birds; body cavities; Cyclocoelidae; Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I; cytochrome-c oxidase; Czech Republic; definitive hosts; genetic variation; geographical distribution; Indomalayan realm; Internal transcribed spacer 2; interspecific variation; Malaysia; Morishitium polonicum malayense n. subsp; new subspecies; parasitism; pharynx; phylogeny; Poland; Prevalence; QH Natural history; Starlings; Sturnidae; testes; Trematoda; Trematode Infections; Poland; Czech Republic; Malaysia; Internal transcribed spacer 2; Morishitium polonicum malayense n. subsp; Indomalayan realm; Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I; Asian glossy starling
• ISSN: 1383-5769; 1873-0329; 1873-0329
• DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2020.102074

We describe Morishitium polonicum malayense n. subsp. from Asian glossy starlings (Aplonis panayensis strigata) (Horsfield, 1821) (Passeriformis: Sturnidae) caught in Malaysia. The trematodes had parasitized the air sacs and the thoracic and body cavities of 40 out of 67 (59.7%) birds examined. The specimens each had an oral sucker, a postpharyngeal genital pore, and tandem testes, but lacked a ventral sucker. The morphological characteristics of our specimens were similar to those of M. polonicum polonicum (Machalska, 1980) from Poland. However, the anterior extremity of vitelline follicles of the present specimens sometimes extended to the level of pharynx. The oral sucker width, oral sucker width/pharynx width ratio, and intertesticular space metrics differed from those of M. p. polonicum. The maximum-likelihood trees based on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequences indicated that the species from the present study formed a sister group with M. p. polonicum from the Czech Republic. The p-distances of COI and ITS2 sequences between the present specimens and M. p. polonicum from the Czech Republic were 6.9–7.5% and 0.6%, respectively. These genetic divergences indicate the border for intra- or interspecific variation of digeneans. The definitive host species and geographical distribution of the current specimens were distinct from those of M. p. polonicum from Europe. We thus concluded that the present specimens are ranked as a new subspecies of M. polonicum, namely M. polonicum malayense n. subsp. [Display omitted] •We describe Morishitium polonicum malayense n. subsp. in Asian glossy starlings.•The Morishitium trematode is newly found in Peninsular Malaysia.•The infection incidence with this newly identified trematode is high in these birds.•Molecular characteristics of M. polonicum malayense n. subsp. are recorded.