Integrating Morphology, Breeding Ground and Mitochondrial COI Gene Analysis for Species Identification of Bellamya lithophaga (Gastropoda: Viviparidae) in China.

Background: Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a zoonotic public health concern that causes human severe eosinophilic meningitis in Southeast Asia and China. As a medically important intermediate host of A. cantonensis , Bellamya lithophaga (Gastrop-oda: Viviparidae) is often confused with other morphologically similar sibling spe-cies of genus Bellamya , such as B. aeruginosa and B. purificata in the past. Hence, the aim of the present study was to investigate evidences to discriminate these equivo-cal Bellamya species. Methods: This study was carried out by getting Bellamya snail samples from Fujian Province in the South-East of China. The snail morphological features，breeding grounds and phylogenetic relationship according to mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene marker were analyzed. Results: Based on external morphology, radular shape and cusp formula, as well as major breeding environment, B. lithophaga could be distinguished from B. aeruginosa , B. purificata . The phylogenetic tree also unconfirmed that B. lithophaga belongs to a different genetic clade from other morphologically similar species. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the significant differences in B. lithophaga and other sibling species, which supports the traditional species delimitation in the genus Bellamya .