Confirmation of Pseudolepidapedon balistis in the Acanthocolpidae (Digenea) based on phylogenetic analysis of ribosomal DNA.

Psuedolepidapedon balistis Manter, 1940 is reported from the grey triggerfish, Balistis capriscus Gmelin, 1789, from off Destin, Florida, in the northern Gulf of Mexico. A fragment of ribosomal DNA comprising a short portion of the 3' end of 18S nuclear rDNA gene, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (=ITS1 + 5.8S rDNA gene + ITS2) and the 5' end of the 28S rDNA gene (including variable domains D1-D3) was sequenced for the species and deposited in GenBank. The fragment of 28S rDNA gene was aligned with similar fragments from 25 other digenean species, including 14 species of acanthocolpids, and a Bayesian Inference phylogenetic analysis was conducted on the alignment. The resulting phylogram confirmed that Psuedolepidapedon Yamaguti, 1938 belongs in the family Acanthocolpidae Lühe, 1906. Neoapocreadium viguerasi (Zhukov, 1983) Ahmad, 1987 is considered a junior synonym of P. balistis.