Morphological and molecular diagnosis of Cyclocoelum mutabile (Trematoda: Cyclocoelidae) in Peru

© 2018 Los autores. Cyclocoelum mutabile, a digenea of the family Cyclocoelidae, was found parasitizing the air sacs of a common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), from the surroundings of the Pantanos de Villa Wildlife Refuge, located in Chorrillos, a district of Lima, Peru. A total of 7 parasites were collected and identified as C. mutabile by morphological methods. Diagnosis was confirmed by molecular analysis and partially amplified mitochondrial genes cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1). Nucleotide sequences from the isolates were compared with previous sequences from GenBank, and they showed a high similarity between them (> 96%). This finding constitutes the first record of C. mutabile in Peru. Also, this work makes a brief description of the parasite, as well as the discussion of its hosts and geographic distribution in South America.