Diversity of trematodes (Platyhelminthes) in Mexico with an assessment of the availability of genetic data for their conservation.

Trematodes are one of the most abundant and diverse groups of platyhelminths. They parasitize all major groups of vertebrates as definitive hosts and therefore play an important role in ecosystem composition. It is estimated that 18,000 to 25,000 species of trematodes exist worldwide, of which 685 have been reported in Mexico.

Not that many leech species after all: Myzobdella lugubris and Myzobdella patzcuarensis (Annelida: Hirudinida) are the same species.

The genus Myzobdella groups five species of leeches parasites of fishes mainly of freshwater but with tolerance to brackish waters. Native distribution of these species includes the New World from North to South America. Myzobdella lugubris Leidy, 1851, the type species of the genus, was briefly described based on specimens from the USA, but subsequently their morphology, known distribution and host range were expanded; however, less is known about the other four species of the genus.

New species of Foleyellides (Nematoda: Onchocercidae: Waltonellinae), parasite of Lithobates brownorum (Amphibia: Ranidae) from South-eastern Mexico and genetic barcodes of the Mexican species of the genus.

Specimens of Foleyellides were collected from the body cavity of frogs in different regions of Mexico; Lithobates brownorum from Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Campeche; L. megapoda from Jalisco and Rhinella marina, from Guerrero. Foleyellides calakmulesis n.

A molecular and ecological study of Macracanthorhynchus ingens (von Linstow, 1879) (Acanthocephala: Archiacanthocephala), in its paratenic and definitive hosts in southeastern Mexico and the Eastern USA.

The acanthocephalan Macracanthorhynchus ingens (von Linstow 1879) (Acanthocephala: Archiacanthocephala) is a parasite that infects the gut of carnivores (racoons, coyotes, wolves, foxes, badgers, skunks, opossum, mink and bears) as an adult and the body cavity of lizards, snakes, and frogs as a cystacanth in the Americas. In this study, adults and cystacanths of M. ingens from southeastern Mexico and southern Florida, USA, were identified morphologically by having a cylindrical proboscis armed with 6 rows of hooks each with 6 hooks.