Myxosporea Fish

A member of the Sparidae family, the goldline sea bream Sarpa salpa (Linnaeus, 1758) collected from the Gulf of Tunis and the Bay of Bizerte in Northeast Tunisia, Western Mediterranean, were examined for the myxozoan parasites. During the parasitological exposure, a total of 7 myxosporean are found including 6 coelozoic species belong to the genus Ceratomyxa Thélohan, 1892 infected the gallbladder of their host of which 3 known species have been previously described, C. arcuata Thélohan, 1892, C. pallida Thélohan, 1895 and C. herouardi Georgévitch, 1916 and 3 species seem different in morphology to Ceratomyxa spp already known from Mediterranean Sea or from other localities in the wide world. These species are Ceratomyxa sp. 1, Ceratomyxa sp. 2 and Ceratomyxa sp. 3. Only one histozoic species belongs to the genus Henneguya Thélohan, 1892, Henneguya sp. identified for the first time infecting the mesentery vessels of S. salpa. The myxosporean parasite C. arcuata Thélohan, 1892 is reported for the first time in Tunisian waters from the goldline sea bream which represents as new host records. In addition to the Monoparasitism, the phenomenon of Polyparasitism was observed between the current species in both sampling sites with two types: Biparasitism and Triparasitism. The most frequent Polyparasitism was a Biparasitism-type between C. herouardi and C. pallida with frequency 16.97%. For all the species, no serious pathogenic changes have been recorded in the host organ or in the outward appearance of the fish. Morphological features, site of infection into the host, parasite prevalence and mean intensity of each myxosporean found during this survey are determined and their taxonomic affinities to other species are discussed.

Ortholinea orientalis (Schulman and Schulman-Albova, 1953) is reported from the urinary bladder of the fish hosts Alosa tanaica (Clupeidae) and Mullus barbatus ponticus (Mullidae) from the Black Sea. Infection prevalence is 33.3% and 2.5% in M. barbatus ponticus and A. tanaica, respectively. A morphometric description of the spores is provided. This paper provides the first records of O. orientalis in Alosa tanaica and M. barbatus ponticus, and the first detection of this parasite in the Black Sea. This is also the first record of O. orientalis from Turkey.

Chloromyxum thymalli infects the gall bladder of fishes belonging to the genus Thy-
mallus. Here, we provide morphological, histological, and molecular data to complete the original
description. Rounded plasmodia measured from 25 to 30 µm in diameter and contain 8 developing
spores at most. Spores are typical of the genus Chloromyxum. Mature spores are subspherical, (mean
± SD) 9.05 ± 0.08 µm (range: 7.75−10.03 µm) long, and 8.81 ± 0.09 µm (range: 7.19− 10.01 µm) wide.
Four pyriform polar capsules are equal in size, 3.4 µm long and 2.7 µm wide on average. Histo -
patho logical analysis showed that presporogonic stages were found in the lamina propria under
the epithelial cells of the host’s gall bladder and destroyed the integrity of the epithelium. The
obtained SSU rDNA sequences of C. thymalli did not match any available sequences in GenBank.
Phylogenetic analysis showed that C. thymalli forms a sister cluster with C. truttae, with a sub-
clade of Chloromyxum spp. that infect the gall bladder of freshwater teleosts.

Ortholinea orientalis (Schulman and Schulman-Albova, 1953) is reported from the urinary bladder of the fish hosts Alosa tanaica (Clupeidae) and Mullus barbatus ponticus (Mullidae) from the Black Sea. Infection prevalence is 33.3% and 2.5% in M. barbatus ponticus and A. tanaica, respectively. A morphometric description of the spores is provided. This paper provides the first records of O. orientalis in Alosa tanaica
and M. barbatus ponticus, and the first detection of this parasite in the Black Sea. This is also the first record of O. orientalis from Turkey.

Ortholinea orientalis (Schulman and Schulman-Albova, 1953) is reported from the urinary bladder of the fish hosts Alosa tanaica (Clupeidae) and Mullus barbatus ponticus (Mullidae) from the Black Sea. Infection prevalence is 33.3% and 2.5% in M. barbatus ponticus and A. tanaica, respectively. A morphometric description of the spores is provided. This paper provides the first records of O. orientalis in Alosa tanaica and M. barbatus ponticus, and the first detection of this parasite in the Black Sea. This is also the first record of O. orientalis from Turkey.

Distribution and prevalence of a myxosporean parasite, Myxidium rhodei Leger,
1905, infecting two cyprinid fish, a roach Rutilus rutilus and Siberian dace Leuciscus
leuciscus baikalensis, have been studied in water bodies of the Lake Baikal basin. Over
15-year period (1998-2013), a total of 246 roaches and 189 daces from 27 stations
were surveyed. Plasmodia of M. rhodei were registered in the Bowman’s capsules and
interstitials in fish kidneys. M. rhodei was recorded in roach and dace almost in all
studied water bodies and rivers of the Lake Baikal basin, except Lake Ugii-Nur and
the northern part of Lake Khovsgol. Infection intensity of roaches was significantly
higher in Lake Baikal than in rivers and lakes of the basin. Benthophagous roaches
displayed significantly higher infection intensity than euryphagous daces.