Marine turtle leeches (Ozobranchus spp.) are suspected vector organisms behind fibropapillomatosis (FP), a neoplastic disease plaguing sea turtles. Character-based DNA barcoding using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene as a molecular marker was employed to identify both species of O. spp. (Ozobranchus branchiatus and Ozobranchus margoi) at all stages of development from turtles in Barbados (Eretmochelys imbricata), Florida (Chelonia mydas and Caretta caretta), Hawaii (C. mydas), and Mexico (Lepidochelys olivacea). Phylogenetic analysis of O.spp. at other genes (18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, and histone H3) is being used to establish whether Atlantic and Pacific Ocean turtles are infested with cryptic species of O. branchiatus. This is the largest molecular data set assembled for phylogenetic studies of ectoparasites relating to FP with the most documented number of turtle host species. New primers were developed to sequence histone H3, revealing gene duplication for O. branchiatus and possibly three for O. margoi.

Establishing a global DNA barcode and molecular phylogeny for identifying marine leeches (Ozobranchus spp.) from sea turtles in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins

244th National Meeting (2012)

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