Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Helminth Collection and Identification from Wildlife
Published on: December 14, 2013
The phylogeny of diphyllobothriid tapeworms (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea) based on ITS-2 rDNA sequences
Flora J Logan1, A Horák, J Stefka
1Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Branisovská 31, 370 05 Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
Phylogenetic analysis of sequences of the ITS-2 rRNA genes of 20 samples of pseudophyllidean cestodes of the family Diphyllobothriidae (Ligula, Digramma, Diphyllobothrium, and Schistocephalus) from different hosts and geographical regions revealed that: (1) the inclusion of ligulids (previously family Ligulidae) to the Diphyllobothriidae is correct; (2) Schistocephalus appears as the most basal taxon of the Diphyllobothriidae, well separated from Ligula and Digramma, thus supporting the validity of Schistocephalinae Dubinina, 1962; (3) Digramma belonged with samples of Ligula, thus suggesting its invalidity as a genus; and (4) isolates of Ligula, presumably belonging to Ligula intestinalis, are paraphyletic, indicating that this species may represent a complex of separate taxa. Our results indicate the necessity for a taxonomic revision of the family Diphyllobothriidae.
Related Concept Videos
Phylogeny
The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Bacterial Phylum Chlamydiae
Diversity of Protists III
Microbial Phylogeny

