Phylogenetic study on Microcotyle sp. (Monogenea) from common dentex (<i>Dentex dentex</i>) in the Mediterranean Sea, Greece

Abstract

The monogenean Microcotyle sp. was isolated from common dentex in the Sea of Crete, the part of the Mediterranean Sea. The 28S rRNA gene of Microcotyle sp.  was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR product was sequenced and compared with other 28S rRNA sequences of Monogenea. Phylogenetic analyses were performed with neighbour-joining (NJ), minimum evolution (ME), maximum likelihood (ML) and maximum parsimony (MP) method. The result of analysis shows that NJ and ME method presented the same topology; ML method led to a similar but slightly different topology from NJ or ME method; MP method resulted in a totally different topology from the other methods. Also, Microcotyle sp. isolated in this study was proven to be closest to Microcotylidae gen. sp. MAF-2012 and Bivagina pagrosomi.

Key words: Microcotyle sp., common dentex, Mediterranean Sea, 28S rRNA gene, phylogenetic analysis.