Phylogenetic relationships among European and Asian representatives of the genus Aspidogaster Baer, 1827 (Trematoda: Aspidogastrea) inferred from molecular data.

In the present study, phylogenetic relationships of European and Far Eastern representatives of the genus Aspidogaster Baer, 1827 were analysed: A. conchicola Baer, 1827, A. limacoides Diesing, 1834, A. ijimai Kawamura, 1915 and A. chongqingensis Wei, Huang & Dai, 2001. Based on ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA sequence data, an obvious differentiation was seen between specimens of A. limacoides s ensu stricto from the European part of Russia and A. limacoides sensu Chen et al., 2010 from China (13.7%); the latter parasites were recognized as A. chongqingensis. Aspidogaster chongqingensis was more closely related to A. ijimai than to A. limacoides s. str. Specimens of A. ijimai from the Amur River, Khanka Lake (Russian Far East) and China were grouped into a single clade with low intra specific molecular differentiation (d = 0-0.3%). Specimens of A. conchicola from the European part of Russia, the Russian Far East and China also formed a single distinct clade. Genetic differentiation between European and Chinese samples of this species was two times lower (d = 0.45%) than between Russian Far East and European or Chinese samples (d = 0.96%), suggesting a long-term separate existence of A. conchicola in the Russian Far East.