AN INTEGRATIVE STUDY ON LIMNATIS PALUDA (TENNENT, 1859) (CLITELLATA, ARHYNCHOBDELLIDA, PRAOBDELLIDAE): MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, MOLECULAR DATA, AND CONFIRM OCCURRENCE IN IRAQ

Abstract

The present study represents a comprehensive morphological and molecular characterization of Limnatis paluda (Tennent, 1859) (Clitellata, Arhynchobdellida, Praobdellidae), collected from five freshwater springs in the Taqtaq District of Erbil Province, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Most prior research on this species has predominantly concentrated on the study of morphological data. DNA sequencing is often advantageous in taxonomy, as it yields information not obtained from morphological studies. The primary objective was to molecularly characterize L. paluda using the nuclear 18S rDNA region and the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene by PCR and nucleotide sequencing techniques. The sequences were acquired and compared to existing GenBank sequences. The results support the validation of L. paluda in Iraq using both traditional (morphology-based) and modern (molecular-based) techniques. The latter showed a 100% identity percentage of L. paluda when compared to the registered sequences in NCBI. The Maximum Likelihood (ML) approach was used to construct the phylogenetic relationship. The results indicate that PCR sequencing is an effective and reliable molecular approach for identifying L. paluda, complementing traditional morphological techniques and enhancing the understanding of its biology, it confirming the occurrence of this leech in Iraq.