MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF CONTRACAECUM RUDOLPHIIHARTWICH, 1964 (NEMATODA: ANISAKIDAE) FROM THE CORMORANT PHALACROCORAX CARBOIN IRAQ

Contracaecumrudolphii Hartwich, 1964is a nematode which causes major concerns to human and wildlife animal’s health. However, the population genetics of C. rudolphiihas been poorly studied in Iraq. In order to gain a deeper understanding in the outline of the genetic diversity of the nematode C. rudolphiithat were isolated from its host cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo(Linnaeus, 1758), in the middleareas of Iraq, twenty specimens of C. rudolphiiadults were isolated from nine individuals of P. carbo.The first (ITS-1) internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of C. rudolphiiwere amplified using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR); then, the amplicons were subjected to sequencing. Concatenation of ITS-1 (rDNA) sequences resulted in four unique genotypes that have not been previously recorded in Iraq. The present study showed that the most common genotype occurred in 85% of C. rudolphii, and in 88.9% of cormorants. Furthermore, the infrapopulation difference in the genotypes was fairlyhigh, with an average of 1.3 ± 0.48 genotypes per host of those with ≥two nematodes. All the sequences of the current study were distributed into two different populations. The sequences of ITS-1 for the first population had the highest similarity to ITS-1 sequence of C. rudolphiiB, while the sequences of ITS-1 for the second population hadthe highest similarity to ITS-1 sequence of C. rudolphiiA. This study provides an insight about the genetic divergence of C. rudolphiiamong P. carboin Iraq. As well, the results likely support the hypothesis thatC.rudolphiirepresents acomplexof atleast two siblingspecies.