Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University Veterinary Research Forum 2008-8140 17 4 2026 04 01 First molecular and phylogenetic characterization of Physaloptera clausa in long-eared hedgehogs (Hemiechinus auritus) from Iran 287 292 735997 10.30466/vrf.2025.2057537.4719 EN Aida Vafae Eslahi Medical Microbiology Research Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran 0000-0001-5399-0552 Majid Pirestani Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran Moslem Karami Department of Biology, Faculty of science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran Sasan Khazaei Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran 0000-0003-3366-464X Milad Badri Medical Microbiology Research Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran 0000-0002-1860-326X Journal Article 2025 04 20 Physalopteridae nematodes pose a threat to a broad spectrum of animals including amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The current study was the first molecular and phylogenetic characterization of Physaloptera clausa parasitizing long-eared hedgehogs (Hemiechinus auritus) in Iran. A male road-killed H. auritus was collected from Shahriar City, Tehran province in May 2022 and it was subjected to necropsy. After isolating parasites, they underwent morphological analysis using a light microscope and an identification key. For molecular analysis, the genomic DNA was isolated using the FavorPrepTM Tissue Genomic DNA Extraction Mini Kit. The PCR products were sequenced, the sequence data were analyzed and multiple alignments were conducted using the Clustal Omega. For phylogenetic analysis, these nucleotide sequences were aligned in MEGA 11 based on the lowest bayesian information criterion score. A cluster of parasites was found on the mucosa of the hedgehog stomach. All the nematodes were identified as P. clausa. The sequence obtained in this study has been submitted to GenBank^® with the accession number OR088573. The phylogeny analysis revealed that the genus Physaloptera formed a major clade where P. clausa was clustered with various Physaloptera species, closely related to Turgida, Physalopteroides and Skrjabinoptera genera. Our study specified the necessity for additional taxonomic and phylogenetic research on Physaloptera species and related genera to fully understand the evolutionary dynamics and ecological significance of these parasites. https://vrf.iranjournals.ir/article_735997_b3be2c8511c52a8b72f42cb19068dfa7.pdf