ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Parasitology
This article is part of the Research TopicAquatic Animal Health and Epidemiology: Disease Surveillance, Prevention and ControlView all 10 articles
Molecular characterization of three Digeneans parasitizing Marine Fish from the Gulf of Thailand
Provisionally accepted
- 1King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang - Chumphon Campus, Mueang Chumphon District, Thailand
- 2Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos (IBIOMAR), CCT CONICET-CENPAT, Puerto Madyn, Argentina
- 3University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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The Gulf of Thailand is a highly diverse marine ecosystem, yet knowledge of its helminth fauna remains fragmentary. Marine fishes were obtained in 2024 from accidental catches of crab-trap fishers or captured by local fishermen using boats in Chumphon Province, Thailand. In this study, we molecularly characterize three digenean trematode genera parasitizing marine fishes from this area: Lecithocladium (Hemiuridae) from the short mackerel (Rastrelliger brachysoma), with a prevalence of 77% from 22 fishes, with ten worms examined for morphology; Prodistomum (Lepocreadiidae) from R. brachysoma (prevalence 18% of 22 fishes) and R. kanagurta (prevalence 100% in one fish), with ten worms examined for morphology; and Lepocreadioides (Lepocreadiidae) from the doublelined tonguesole (Paraplagusia bilineata) with a prevalence of 75% among four fishes, with eight worms examined for morphology. Sequences of nuclear ribosomal markers (18S, ITS2, 28S) were generated, providing the first molecular data for Lepocreadioides orientalis. Our analyses confirm the presence of Lecithocladium angustiovum and Prodistomum sp. in the Gulf of Thailand, contribute new molecular data and provide a morphological description of Prodistomum sp. Despite the Gulf of Thailand's high ichthyofaunal diversity, its helminth communities remain insufficiently investigated, warranting future research.
Keywords: Lecithocladium, Prodistomum, Lepocreadioides, trematode, Rastrelliger, Paraplagusia, 18S, ITS1
Received: 29 Aug 2025; Accepted: 01 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Suwannarat, Gilardoni, Ribas Salvador, Miquel and Poonlaphdecha. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Alexis Ribas Salvador
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