Molecular characterization of three species belongs to the Allocreadioidea, Hemiuroidea and Plagiorchioidea (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda) infecting freshwater fishes in India

Three species of digenetic trematodes are redescribed based on specimens collected from the intestine of freshwater fishes of Hastinapur and Meerut (U.P.), India: Allocreadium handiai (Pande, 1937) Madhavi, 1980 (Allocreadioidea: Allocreadiidae) from Mystus tengara (Hamilton, 1822) (Siluri-formes: Bagridae), Genarchopsis goppoOzaki, 1925 (Hemiuroidea: Derogenidae) and Phyllodistomum chauhaniMotwani & Srivastava, 1961 (Plagiorchioidea: Gorgoderidae) from Channa punctata (Bloch, 1793) (Perciformes: Channidae). The three species were subjected to morphological, morphometric and molecular analyses. The morphological study revealed that A. handiai, G. goppo and P. chauhani can be distinguished by their congeners on the basis of their morphology. Partial nucleotide sequences of the 28S ribosomal RNA gene were obtained from the three trematode species and deposited in the GenBank. A phylogenetic reconstruction based on the 28S rRNA gene placed the three studied species within their respective families and their validity is discussed. For the first time molecular data of newly collected material of these species from India were used for confirmation of their validity and to assess their phylogenetic relationships.