Monogeneans from the Gills of Catfishes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Diversity and Their Use as an Indicator of Host Biogeography

Abstract

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) boasts a rich ichthyofauna. The biogeography of fishes inhabiting its lakes have long served as a model for biogeographic and evolutionary studies. In our research, we focused on two families of catfishes from this county: Auchenoglanididae and Clariidae. To understand the biogeography of these fish, we used monogeneans as bioindicators. Fish were collected from Lake Tanganyika, Lake Kivu, Lake Edward, and Lake Albert. The main findings of this study include 7 new geographical records of the following parasites: Gyrodactylus transvaalensis, Quadriacanthus aegypticus, Macrogyrodactylus clarii, Macrogyrodactylus karibae, Bagrobdella vanhovei, Bagrobdella vansteenbergei, and Bagrobdella anthopenis. Additionally, we described three new species for science and obtained the first molecular data within the genus Bagrobdella and the species Quadriacanthus bagrae. Thanks to this study, the parasitic fauna of the DRC catfishes now includes 8 known species (instead of 2). Among the major conclusions of this research, we can highlight the following: 1) Clarias gariepinus has a homogenous pan-African monogenean fauna. 2) Bagrobdella can be used as marker for Auchenoglanis occidentalis at the scale of ichthyofaunal provinces.