Abstract
Henneguya jocu n. sp. (Myxosporea, Myxobolidae) is described from the gill lamellae of the marine teleost fish Lutjanus jocu, with a focus on ultrastructural and molecular features. This myxosporean forms subspherical cysts up to similar to 260 mu m Chi 130 mu m long, and develops asynchronously. Mature myxospores ellipsoidal with a bifurcated caudal process. Myxospore length 10.9 +/- 0.4 mu m (n = 50); width, 8.2 +/- 0.3 mu m (n = 50); and thickness, 2.9 +/- 0.5 mu m (n = 50). Two equal caudal processes, 34.1 +/- 1.0 mu m long (n= 50); and total myxospore length, 45.2 +/- 1.0 mu m (n = 50). Two symmetric valves surround two ellipsoidal polar capsules, 5.0 +/- 0.3 Chi 1.4 +/- 0.2 mu m (n = 20), each containing an isofilar polar filament forming 4-5 coils along the inner wall of these structures, as well as a binucleated sporoplasm presenting a spherical vacuole and several globular sporoplasmosomes. Both the morphological data and molecular analysis of the SSU rDNA gene identify this parasite as a new species of the genus Henneguya. Maximum Likelihood and Maximum Parsimony analyses further indicate that the parasite clusters within others marine Myxobolidae species, forming a group alongside other Henneguya species described from marine hosts. (C) 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.