Abstract
During examination of some species of the family Mugilidae, two coelozoic myxozoans were observed in the gall-bladder of the leaping mullet,
Liza saliens
(Risso). Spore morphology allowed us to allocate them to the genus
Ellipsomyxa
Køie, 2003, one of which is described here as new.
Ellipsomyxa
kalthoumi
n. sp. was observed forming globular pseudoplasmodia and free spores floating in the bile. Mature spores are ellipsoidal, measuring 13–21 × 10–15 (17.2 × 13.2) µm and possessing two equal spherical polar capsules, 5–6 (5.5) µm in diameter, opening subterminally in opposite directions, with nine polar filament coils. Morphological data and molecular analysis of the small subunit rDNA sequences helped identify this parasite as a new species of
Elliposmyxa
. The second species identified as
E. mugilis
(Sitjà-Bobadilla & Alvarez-Pellitero, 1993) has oval spores with rounded ends, measuring 10–11 × 7–9 (10.5 × 8.0) µm and possessing two polar subspherical capsules, 2.7–3.0 (2.8) µm in diameter, opening subterminally in opposite directions. Spore morphometry and molecular study of the small subunit (SSU) of the rRNA gene identified this species as
E. mugilis
described from the same host in the Western Mediterranean off Spain. Phylogenetic analysis revealed
Elliposmyxa
as a monophyletic clade and showed that
E. mugilis
,
E. syngnathi
Køie & Karlsbakk, 2009,
E. adlardi
Whipps & Font, 2012 and
E. gobii
Køie, 2003 group in a subclade containing the Tunisian isolate of
E. mugilis
whereas
E. kalthoumi
n. sp. appears in a second subclade together with four Australian species,
E. maniliensis
Heiniger & Adlard, 2014,
E. apogoni
Heiniger & Adlard, 2014,
E. nigropunctatis
Heiniger & Adlard, 2014 and
E. arothroni
Heiniger & Adlard, 2014.