A call for phylogenetic context to understand geographic variation and host specificity in the parasitic copepod genus Salmincola

2025 · doi:10.32942/x2ts7n
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This paper reviews the freshwater parasitic copepod genus Salmincola, focusing on how limited taxonomic and phylogenetic understanding may obscure cryptic diversity and patterns of gene flow between lineages. It highlights that traditional species definitions rely on older, geographically narrow morphological descriptions and host associations, while infection rates on salmonid hosts vary substantially across different water bodies. The authors argue that adding genetic data and placing taxa in phylogenetic context could clarify whether morphological and phylogenetic species boundaries are congruent and how genetic differentiation relates to infection dynamics, noting that the main limitation is the current scarcity of such integrative data. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

Freshwater parasitic copepods appear to exhibit great taxonomic diversity. However, little is known about gene flow between species or whether there is incongruence between morphological and phylogenetic species definitions. Additionally, little is known about what evolutionary factors may contribute to speciation across various lineages. The copepod genus Salmincola, which includes common ectoparasites of fishes in the family Salmonidae, is distributed throughout the northern hemisphere and is a good model to demonstrate limited taxonomic understanding. Much of the regular scholarly output regarding Salmincola copepods comes from fisheries management agencies, where they are considered a pest species. Within a geographic region, Salmincola copepods of the same species are often found infecting their hosts at substantially different rates across different water bodies. However, present taxonomic definitions of Salmincola are based on decades old morphological descriptions which were limited in geographic scope and number of specimens examined. There is a strong possibility that traditional species definitions in this genus, based on host species along with morphology, are missing cryptic diversity that may explain differences in infection intensity across environments. This review outlines the current scientific limitations of understanding of this genus and provides suggestions for how adding genetic data could inform taxonomic revisions, as well as clarifying connections between genetic differentiation and infection dynamics across localities.
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Abstract

Freshwater parasitic copepods appear to exhibit great taxonomic diversity. However, little is known about gene flow between species or whether there is incongruence between morphological and phylogenetic species definitions. Additionally, little is known about what evolutionary factors may contribute to speciation across various lineages. The copepod genus Salmincola, which includes common ectoparasites of fishes in the family Salmonidae, is distributed throughout the northern hemisphere and is a good model to demonstrate limited taxonomic understanding. Much of the regular scholarly output regarding Salmincola copepods comes from fisheries management agencies, where they are considered a pest species. Within a geographic region, Salmincola copepods of the same species are often found infecting their hosts at substantially different rates across different water bodies. However, present taxonomic definitions of Salmincola are based on decades old morphological descriptions which were limited in geographic scope and number of specimens examined. There is a strong possibility that traditional species definitions in this genus, based on host species along with morphology, are missing cryptic diversity that may explain differences in infection intensity across environments. This review outlines the current scientific limitations of understanding of this genus and provides suggestions for how adding genetic data could inform taxonomic revisions, as well as clarifying connections between genetic differentiation and infection dynamics across localities. DOI https://doi.org/10.32942/X2TS7N Subjects Life Sciences

Keywords

evolution, taxonomy, Parasitology, Salmincola, Copepods, salmonids, host specificity Dates Published: 2025-06-28 12:08 Last Updated: 2025-06-28 12:08 License No Creative Commons license Additional Metadata Data and Code Availability Statement: Not applicable Language: English

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