Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Apharyngostrigea pipientis Faust, 1918 (Trematoda: Diplostomidea) from Ardeacinerea jouyi, Egretta intermedia and Nycticorax nycticorax in Korea

An intestinal strigeiid trematode, Apharyngostrigea pipientis, was detected from Ardea cinerea jouyi, Egretta intermedia and Nycticorax nycticorax between July, 2006 and June, 2020 in Daejeon metropolitan city and Kangwondo, Republic of Korea. It was observed with a light and scanning electron microscope (SEM), and molecularly analyzed with 18S rRNA genes. The infection rate of the strigeiid trematode was 25.9% (7/27). The body is cylindrical in whole mount, greatly elongated in outline and shows a strong dorsal curvature. The overall measurements are: length 4.1-4.8 ㎜; fore-body 1.00-1.20 ㎜ by 0.8-0.9 ㎜; hind-body 3.2-3.6 ㎜ by 0.43-0.46 ㎜. The body is covered by a relatively thick cuticle, devoid of spines. The oral sucker leads into a short esophagus that is devoid of a muscular pharynx. The holdfast organ is enormously developed. The vitelline follicles distributed dorsal wall of fore-body and hind-body. This strigeiid trematode especially differs from other species of genus Apharyngostrigea in morphology. Although these A. pipientis are several morphological distinctions from Apharyngostrigea cornu, the partial sequence of 18S rRNA showed the sequence homology of A. pipientis (99.9%) and A. cornu (99.8%), and this result revealed their conspecific relationship between A. cornu and A. pipientis. This is the first report of A. pipientis in the Republic of Korea.