Recent evolution of ancient Arctic leech relatives: systematics of Acanthobdellida

• Published in: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
• Main Authors: de Carle, Danielle Božena, Gajda, Lukasz, Bielecki, Aleksander, Cios, Stanisław, Cichocka, Joanna M, Golden, Heidi E, Gryska, Andrew D, Sokolov, Sergey, Shedko, Marina Borisowna, Knudsen, Rune, Utevsky, Serge, Świątek, Piotr, Tessler, Michael
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2022
• Subjects: Arctic; Leech; Knudsen; Alaska
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/28651; https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac006

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society following peer review. The version of record Danielle Božena de Carle, Łukasz Gajda, Aleksander Bielecki, Stanisław Cios, Joanna M Cichocka, Heidi E Golden, Andrew D Gryska, Sergey Sokolov, Marina Borisowna Shedko, Rune Knudsen, Serge Utevsky, Piotr Świątek, Michael Tessler, Recent evolution of ancient Arctic leech relatives: systematics of Acanthobdellida, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 196, Issue 1, September 2022, Pages 149–168 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac006 Acanthobdellida gnaw into the sides of salmonid fishes in frigid Arctic lakes and rivers, latching on with fearsome facial hooks. Sister to leeches, they are an ancient lineage with two described species. Unfortunately, Acanthobdellida are rarely collected, leading to a paucity of literature despite their unique morphology. Populations range from Eurasia to Alaska (USA), but few specimens of Acanthobdella peledina are represented in molecular studies, and no molecular data exist for Paracanthobdella livanowi, making their taxonomic position difficult to assess. We use phylogenetics and morphology to determine whether allopatric populations of A. peledina are distinct species and assess the current classification scheme used for Acanthobdellida. We produce a new suborder, Acanthobdelliformes, to match the taxonomy within Hirudinea. Scanning electron micrographs indicate species-level differences in the anterior sucker and facial hooks; molecular phylogenetics mirrors this divergence between species. We assign both species to the family Acanthobdellidae and abandon the family Paracanthobdellidae. Alaskan and European A. peledina populations are morphologically similar, but appear phylogenetically divergent. Our data strongly suggest that members of the order Acanthobdellida diverged relatively recently in their ancient history, but based on genetic distance, this ...