Morphological variation in Echinorhynchus truttae Schrank, 1788 and the Echinorhynchus bothniensis Zdzitowiecki & Valtonen, 1987 species complex from freshwater fishes of northern Europe

Abstract. Echinorhynchus truttae and the Echinorhynchus bothniensis species complex are common parasites of salmoniform and other fishes in northern Europe. Echinorhynchus bothniensis and its sibling species Echinorhynchus 'bothniensis' are thought to be closely related to the Nearctic Echinorhynchus leidyi Van Cleave, 1924 based on morphological similarity and common usage of a mysid intermediate host. This study provides the first analysis of morphological and meristic variation in Echinorhynchus truttae and expands our knowledge of anatomical variability in the Echinorhynchus bothniensis group. Morphological variability in Echinorhynchus truttae was found to be far greater than previously reported, with part of the variance attributable to sexual dimorphism. Echinorhynchus truttae, the two species of the Echinorhynchus bothniensis group and Echinorhynchus leidyi displayed considerable interspecific overlap in the ranges of all conventional morphological characters. However, Proboscis profiler, a tool for detecting acanthocephalan morphotypes using multivariate analysis of hook morphometrics, successfully separated Echinorhynchus truttae from the other taxa. The Echinorhynchus bothniensis species group could not be reliably distinguished from Echinorhynchus leidyi (or each other), providing further evidence of the affinity of these taxa. Observations on the distribution of Echinorhynchus truttae in its definitive host population are also reported.