Identification of Gyrodactylus gurleyi in Carassius auratus usingmorphometric and molecular characterization

Gyrodactylus is a small monogeneanectoparasite that lives on the skin and fins of most of the world's fishspecies. Gyrodactylus appears to be one of the most prevalentparasites found in ornamental fish, especially in Cyprinids.Goldfish (Carassius auratus) are a popular ornamental fish that arehighly contaminated by Gyrodcatylus. OBJECTIVES: The presentstudy is aimed to identify morphological and molecular characteristicsof the Gyrodactylus parasite on gold fish. METHODS: Themorphological identification of Gyrodactylus specimens wasperformed using the measurements and drawings of opisthaptoralhard parts of the parasites. The molecular species description wasbased on a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of partial sequence ofthe 5.8S region of ribosomal RNA, and a partial sequence of theinternal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of ribosomal RNA. Thenucleotide sequences of the PCR products were compared withcorresponding sequencing registered in GenBank. RESULTS:Based on the morphometric analysis and sequencing, the Gyrodactylusspecimens were described as Gyrodactylus gurleyi. CONCLUSIONS:A combination of molecular techniques with morphologicalanalysis seems to be the best approach for the identification ofGyrodactylus speices.

Keywords:

Carassius auratus , Gyrodactylus gurleyi , PCR , morphometric characterization , molecular characterization