First record of Temnosewellia minor (Platyhelminthes, Temnocephalidae) in Sicily, with a plea for a re-examination of the identity of the publicly available molecular sequences of the genus

Author(s): Vecchioni, Luca; Chirco, Pietro; Bazan, Giuseppe; Marrone, Federico; Arizza, Vincenzo; Arculeo, Marco | Abstract: Ectosymbiotic temnocephalan flatworms belonging to the genus Temnosewellia Damborenea and Cannon, 2001 were collected on Cherax destructor Clark, 1936 in an aquaculture farm Sicily, Italy. This represents first record of a species for fauna island. Morphological molecular identification specimens proved that they belong allochthonous minor Haswell, 1888, which was introduced along with crayfishes bred farms. The phylogenetic analyses carried out Sicilian population highlighted some inconsistencies grouping sequences available online, thus stressing opportunity careful re-examination voucher samples their identifications. risks its unwary introduction wild need monitoring possible impacts native biota are briefly discussed.