Sharon Lynch

The Children's Rights Alliance has said it is deeply concerned about the level of food poverty that it says has seeped into every community in Ireland.

A circuit court judge and former schoolteacher has been convicted of the sexual assault of six young men – some of whom were students at the school where he was teaching.

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has said it has seen a 75% increase in case files submitted for potential criminal prosecution.

A south Dublin GAA club has confirmed that some of its under-14 boys team were robbed after disembarking a bus on Saturday.

It was a day of firsts in Northern Ireland: The first time in two years that it has a functioning government;

Patients attending the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick this week have described it as "chaotic" and "jammed".

The Chairperson of the Irish Muslim Council, Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, has given an update on his condition following an alleged assault in Dublin, and said that he is feeling much better.

Just six men will decide whether and when Israel launches a ground invasion of Rafah in the coming days.

Identifying marine trematode parasites in host tissue can be complicated when there is limited morphological differentiation between species infecting the same host species. This poses a challenge for regular surveys of the parasite communities in species of socio-economic and ecological importance. Our study focused on identifying digenean trematode species infecting the marine bivalve Cerastoderma edule across Europe by comparing morphological and molecular species identification methods. Cockles were sampled from ten locations to observe the trematode parasites under a stereomicroscope (morphological identification) and to isolate individuals for phylogenetic analyses using two gene markers, the small sub-unit ribosomal (18S) RNA gene (SSU rDNA) and the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1). For the first time, we compared both morphological identification and phylogenetic analyses for each of the 13 originally identified species. First, we identified a group of five species for which morphological identification matched molecular results (Bucephalus minimus, Monorchis parvus, Renicola parvicaudatus, Psilostomum brevicolle, Himasthla interrupta). Second, we identified a group of six species for which molecular results revealed either misidentifications or cryptic diversity (Gymnophallus choledochus, Diphterostomum brusinae, Curtuteria arguinae, Himasthla quissetensis, H. elongata, H. continua). Third, our analyses showed that all sequences of two expected species, Gymnophallus minutus and G. fossarum, matched between the two, strongly suggesting that only G. minutus is present in the studied area. Our study clearly demonstrates that molecular tools are necessary to validate the trematode species composition. However, with 17 distinct genetic lineages detected, some of which are not fully identified, future studies are needed to clarify the identity and status (regular vs. accidental infection) of some of these cryptic trematode species.

Sharon Lynch [email protected] ∙ Sara Baker [email protected] ∙ Muhammad Nashatizadeh [email protected] ∙ Amanda