Abstract
Redclaw crayfish () is a decapod species originating from Australian freshwater. For more than two decades, these crayfish have been re-distributing to environments in many countries, including Thailand. Moreover, they can carry endosymbionts and/or ectosymbionts into new environments. The aim of this study was to introduce a morphological description of as a metacercaria of the endoparasites of redclaw crayfish collected from natural water sources in Thailand. The occurrence of two ectosymbiotic temnocephalans ( and sp.) in was also reported. The internal morphology of , and were described and discussed. The surface ultrastructure of the multidentate spines on the body and the metacercarial cyst wall of was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). By performing a search of the GenBank nucleotide database of partial sequences of 18S, 28S rDNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1), . was found to be related to , and was found to be related to . . However, according to the cox1 gene, was found to be similar to . These results reveal that redclaw crayfish that inhabit natural freshwaters in Thailand may harbour endoparasites and ecto- and endosymbionts. Furthermore, these findings may be able to monitor invasive or non-invasive species in an ecosystem.
Citation
ID:
72728
Ref Key:
ngamniyom2019contributionsheliyon