Description of a new myxozoan Kudoa eugerres n. sp. and reclassification of two Sphaerospora sensu lato species

Ultrastructural and phylogenetic description of a fish-infecting myxosporean found infecting the gallbladder wall of the teleostean Eugerres brasilianus Cuvier, 1830, collected from the Atlantic coast near the city of Maceió (Alagoas State), Brazil. Groups of mature pseudo-conical myxospores, agglutinated forming pseudocyst structures, occurring in the mucosa of gallbladder were 5.2 ± 0.8 μm (4.5–6.0) ( n = 30) long, 4.3 ± 0.6 μm (3.8–4.7) ( n = 25) thick, and 2.9 ± 0.2 μm (2.7–3.2) ( n = 25) wide. The two ellipsoidal polar capsules, 1.8 ± 0.4 × 1.2 ± 0.4 μm ( n = 25), opened close to the sutural line, each containing an isofilar polar tubule. The latter consisted of a single coil with five to six turns, arranged obliquely to the axis of the polar capsule. This myxosporean parasite, while being morphologically similar to Sphaerospora spp., displays tissue tropism and phylogenetic relationships distinct from the latter. Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) analyses showed the parasite and two other related species clustering within the marine clade, more specifically within a subclade of the larger Kudoa (Multivalvulida) clade. Consequently, this atypical new myxozoan species was classified as Kudoa eugerres n. sp. and two other histozoic Sphaerospora spp. sensu lato were transferred to the genus Kudoa .