A new genus and species of cave-dwelling leech from China in the family Salifidae: taxonomy, phylogeny, and mitochondrial genome characterization

By

Liu, Kaiqing
Li, Qing
Wu, Heqi
Lin, Yiquan
Li, Hexiang
Nakano, Takafumi
Liu, Zichao

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-11-11

Original Publication

Zoosystematics and evolution

Volume

101

Series / Issue

Issue: 4

Pages

2123--2132

Subjects

mitochondrial genome , mitochondrial genome , mitochondrial genome , mitochondrial genome , mitochondrial genome , Phylogeny , Salifidae , taxonomy , Troglobdella guizhouensis , Troglobiont

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.168628

 

Abstract

<br> Accurate identification of leech species is critical for biodiversity conservation and evolutionary studies. However, due to the ambiguity and variability of some key characteristics, Salifidae remains a rather poorly known group of Erpobdelliformes. In this study, a new genus of salifid leech,<br> Troglobdella<br> gen. nov.<br> , is established, and a new species,<br> Troglobdella guizhouensis<br> sp. nov.<br> , is described based on specimens collected from a cave in Guizhou Province, Southwest China. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and nuclear 18S rRNA gene sequences reveal that<br> Troglobdella guizhouensis<br> represents a distinct lineage within a clade that also includes the troglobiotic species<br> Shibabdella wulingensis<br> Tang &amp; Liu, 2025, and the terrestrial<br> Odontobdella gaowangjiensis<br> Yin &amp; Liu, 2025, both of which are known from Hunan Province. This suggests that cave-related morphologies in Chinese salifid leeches may have evolved independently. The complete mitochondrial genome of the new species was assembled into a circular molecule of 15,732 bp, comprising 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, and 2 rRNAs. This study contributes new insights into the taxonomy, systematics, and mitochondrial architecture of cave-adapted leeches.<br>