Publication details
The North American tapeworm Ophiotaenia saphena (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae) in frogs (Ranidae) of Europe: introduction via the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)?
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Systematics and biodiversity |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | DE CHAMBRIER, Alain, Roman KUCHTA, Jiri KYSLIK, Michal BENOVICS and Tomas SCHOLZ. The North American tapeworm Ophiotaenia saphena (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae) in frogs (Ranidae) of Europe: introduction via the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)? Systematics and biodiversity. ABINGDON: Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2025, vol. 23, No 1, p. "2435831", 14 pp. ISSN 1477-2000. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2024.2435831. |
| web | https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2024.2435831 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2024.2435831 |
| Keywords | Onchoproteocephalidea; American bullfrog; Amphibia; Balkan Peninsula; host switch; introduction; invasive species; parasite spillover; <italic>Pelophylax</italic> |
| Description | Frogs (Amphibia: Ranidae) in Europe have been intensively studied for parasites for decades, but no proteocephalid tapeworms (Cestoda) have been found. Recently, tapeworms of the genus Ophiotaenia La Rue, 1911 were found in frogs of the family Ranidae (Pelophylax spp.) in Greece and Romania. These are the first proteocephalids found in anurans of the continental Palaearctic. Despite slight morphological differences between the tapeworms from Greece and Romania, all tapeworms were almost identical in the 28S rRNA and even cox1 gene sequences, suggesting that they belong to a single species. Furthermore, the tapeworms from Europe are genetically indistinguishable from O. saphena Osler, 1931, a parasite of the green frog Lithobates clamitans (Latreille) and the American bullfrog L. catesbeianus (Shaw) (Ranidae) in North America. The striking genetic and morphological similarity of the present specimens to O. saphena in its native range suggests that this may be a recent introduction of this species to Europe and its switch to local hosts (parasite spillover). The documented introductions of bullfrogs into Europe further support the hypothesis of a very recent co-introduction of the non-native host species with its parasite. Although the first introductions of bullfrogs were restricted to western and central Europe, the lack of previous records of proteocephalid tapeworms in European ranids makes it difficult to trace the distribution of this North American species in the Balkan Peninsula. |