title: Morphological and molecular characterization of Neotropic Lymnaeidae (Gastropoda: Lymnaeoidea), vectors of fasciolosis.
abstract: Lymnaeidae play a crucial role in the transmission of fasciolosis, a disease of medical and veterinary importance. In the Neotropic, a region where fasciolosis is emergent, eight Lymnaeidae species are currently considered valid. However, our knowledge of the diversity of this taxon is hindered by the fact that lymnaeids exhibit extremely homogeneous anatomical traits. Because most species are difficult to identify using classic taxonomy, it is difficult to establish an epidemiological risk map of fasciolosis in the Neotropic. In this paper, we contribute to our understanding of the diversity of lymnaeids in this region of the world. We perform conchological, anatomical and DNA-based analyses (phylogeny and barcoding) of almost all species of Lymnaeidae inhabiting the Neotropic to compare the reliability of classic taxonomy and DNA-based approaches, and to delimitate species boundaries. Our results demonstrate that while morphological traits are unable to separate phenotypically similar species, DNA-based approaches unambiguously ascribe individuals to one species or another. We demonstrate that a taxon found in Colombia and Venezuela (Galba sp.) is closely related yet sufficiently divergent from Galba truncatula, G. humilis, G. cousini, G. cubensis, G. neotropica and G. viatrix to be considered as a different species. In addition, barcode results suggest that G. cubensis, G. neotropica and G. viatrix might be conspecifics. We conclude that conchological and anatomical characters are uninformative to identify closely related species of Lymnaeidae and that DNA-based approaches should be preferred.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, MIVEGEC, UM1 - CNRS 5290 - IRD 224 Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs, Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle, Centre IRD, Montpellier, France. ac.correayepes@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ana C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.forename: Juan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Escobar
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Noya
authors.forename: Luz E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Velásquez
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: González-Ramírez
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hurtrez-Boussès
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Pointier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D004199:Disease Vectors / Q000145:classification*; D005209:Fasciola / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005211:Fascioliasis / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D008195:Lymnaea / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D016415:Sequence Alignment