Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Parasitology 1735-7020 9 2 2014 06 15 Integrating Morphology, Breeding Ground and Mitochondrial COI Gene Analysis for Species Identification of Bellamya lithophaga (Gastropoda: Viviparidae) in China 260 265 EN Youzhu Cheng Fujian Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Fu Zhou 35001, China. Yue Guo State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Xiamen University; Parasitology Research Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China. Guohua Lin Fujian Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Fu Zhou 35001, China. Lin Ai National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200025, China. Shaohong Chen National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200025, China. Mingke Lu State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Xiamen University; Parasitology Research Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China. 2015 10 14 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. https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/view/404 https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/download/404/340