The Phylogenetic Position of the Cestode Nippotaenia mogurndae Yamaguti et Miyata, 1940 (Cestoda: Nippotaeniidae), a Parasite of the Chinese Sleeper Perccottus glenii Dybowski, 1877 (Actinopterygii: Odontobutidae), Based on a Partial Sequence of the 18S rRNA Gene

A partial sequence of the 18S rRNA gene (1979 bp) of the cestode Nippotaenia mogurndae Yamaguti et Miyata, 1940, a parasite of the Chinese sleeper Perccottus glenii Dybowski, 1877, is obtained. The maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI) algorithms are used for phylogenetic analysis that included the sequence and data obtained from GenBank. Both algorithms reveal a close phylogenetic relationship of our N. mogurndae and the N. mogurndae s. str. from its type host, Odontobutis obscura (Temminck et Schlegel, 1845), from Japan. The genetic divergence between these helminths (0.005) corresponds to the level of intraspecies differences typical for groups of cestodes phylogenetically close to the nippotaeniids: Mesocestoididae and Hymenolepididae. The results of the phylogenetic analysis also do not support the separation of nippotaeniid cestodes into two genera: Amurotaenia Achmerow, 1941 and Nippotaenia Yamaguti, 1939.