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Morphological and molecular characterization of Neodiplostomum vaucheri Dubois, 1983 (Digenea: Diplostomidae) from Trachops cirrhosus (Spix, 1823) (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in the southern Peruvian Amazon using third-generation sequencing (Oxford Nanopore)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2025

E.R. Cacique ,
N. Barriga ,
R. Bello ,
J. Pino ,
L. Salcedo-Mejia ,
L. Ñacari ,
C. Cruces ,
A. Mondragón-Martínez  and
J.D. Chero Open the ORCID record for J.D. Chero [Opens in a new window]
E.R. Cacique
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Zoología de invertebrados, Departamento Académico de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas (FCB), https://ror.org/006vs7897 Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM) , Av. Universitaria cruce con Av. Venezuela cuadra 34, Lima, Peru
N. Barriga
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, https://ror.org/03gsd6w61 Universidad Nacional de San Antonio de Abad del Cusco (UNSAAC) , Av. De la Cultura, N° 733, Cusco, Peru
R. Bello
Affiliation:
Kawsay Biological Station, Madre de Dios, Peru
J. Pino
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Reproducción y Biología de Desarrollo, Departamento Académico de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas (FCB), https://ror.org/006vs7897 Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM) , Av. Universitaria cruce con Av. Venezuela cuadra 34, Lima, Peru
L. Salcedo-Mejia
Affiliation:
Umbrella Genomic Company, Lima, Peru
L. Ñacari
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecología y Evolución de Parásitos, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Recursos Biológicos, https://ror.org/04eyc6d95 Universidad de Antofagasta , 601 Angamos, Antofagasta, Chile
C. Cruces
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, https://ror.org/02mb17771 Universidad Ricardo Palma (URP) , Av. Alfredo Benavides 5440 Santiago de Surco, Lima, Peru
A. Mondragón-Martínez
Affiliation:
Research and Development Department, Natural Environment S.A.C., Pedro Benvenuto 381 Street, San Miguel, Lima, Peru
J.D. Chero*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Zoología de invertebrados, Departamento Académico de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas (FCB), https://ror.org/006vs7897 Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM) , Av. Universitaria cruce con Av. Venezuela cuadra 34, Lima, Peru
*
Corresponding author: J.D. Chero; Email: jcherod@unmsm.edu.pe
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Abstract

Neodiplostomum vaucheri Dubois, 1983 is a digenean trematode originally described from the intestine of the woolly false vampire bat, Chrotopterus auritus (Peters, 1856), in the northwestern Peruvian Amazon. Decades later, it was also reported from the fringe-lipped bat, Trachops cirrhosis (Spix, 1823), in Ecuador. During a helminthological survey of phyllostomid bats at the Kawsay Biological Station in Madre de Dios, southeastern Peruvian Amazonia, specimens of Neodiplostomum Railliet, 1919 were recovered from the intestine of T. cirrhosus. Morphological comparisons with the holotype confirmed these specimens as conspecific with N. vaucheri. Phylogenetic inference supported the morphological identification, recovering the Peruvian isolate with an N. vaucheri isolate from another South American region within the same clade, with strong support (ML = 90; BI = 0.9587). The observed genetic divergence (4.47% under the Kimura two-parameter model and 4.27% based on uncorrected p-distances) in the partial cox1 sequence may indicate cryptic diversity, as previously noted in congeners. This represents the first integrative characterization of a digenean from a bat host in Peru, contributing to our understanding of parasite diversity in neotropical chiropterans. Furthermore, the use of third-generation sequencing technology (Oxford Nanopore) proved effective for generating reliable partial gene sequences, underscoring its applicability in molecular helminthology.

Keywords

nanopore sequencingintegrative taxonomycox1Fringe-lipped batPeruvian Amazon

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Type
Research Paper
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 99 , 2025 , e89
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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