EN
The chromosomes of Szidatia joyeuxi were studied using cells of sporocysts from naturally infected molluscs Melanopsis dufouri (Castellon province, Spain). The diploid sets contain 18 chromosomes. The length of the first chromosome pair is equal to 16.9 µm and comprises up to 31.61% of the total haploid set length. In accordance with the centromere position, the S. joyeuxi karyotype structure is: 1m+ 2,3st+4a-st+5-9sm. There is a remarkable similarity between karyotypes of S. joyeuxi and other species of Cyathocotylidae (Cyathocotyle bithyniae, Paracoenogonimus ovatus and Gogatea serpentium) studied earlier. Inter-generic transformations of karyotypes were connected mainly with pericentric inversions in small chromosomes and robertsonian translocations in large elements of sets. The comparative karyometrical analysis of trematodes from related families showed the common origin of Cyathocotylidae, Diplostomatidae and Strigeidae. The main evolutionary mechanism in their speciation was found to be pericentric inversions in the small elements and robertsonian translocations, which were recognised only in the large chromosome group of Cyathocotylidae.