Species of Lepidapedon Stafford, 1904 (Digenea: Lepidapedidae) from deep-sea fishes in the Western Mediterranean: molecular and morphological evidence

The species diversity of Lepidapedon Stafford, 1904 (Lepidapediae) in the Western Mediterranean was assessed based on samples from five deep-sea gadiform fishes collected between the Balearic Islands and the Catalonian coast of Spain: Lepidion lepidion (Risso) and Mora moro (Risso) (both Moridae); Coelorinchus mediterraneus Iwamoto & Ungaro and Trachyrincus scabrus (Rafinesque) (both Macrouridae); and Phycis blennoides (Brünnich) (Phycidae). Integration of morphological and molecular evidence (28S rRNA gene and the mitochondrial nad 1 gene) revealed that the deep-sea fishes in the Western Mediterranean share two species of Lepidapedon . Lepidapedon desclersae Bray & Gibson, 1995 was recovered in all five fish species of three families [Moridae ( L. lepidion and M. moro ); Macrouridae ( C. mediterraneus and T. scabrus ); and Phycidae ( P. blennoides )] and L. guevarai Lopez-Roman & Maillard, 1973 was recovered in three fish species of three families [Phycidae ( P. blennoides ); Macrouridae ( T. scabrus ); and Moridae ( L. lepidion )]. Therefore, both species are considered to be euryxenic but restricted to gadiforms. The voucher material for the two species from different fish hosts is described in detail and the host-related variability based on the morphometric data is assessed.