Henneguya corruscans n. sp (Myxozoa, Myxosporea, Myxobolidae), a parasite of Pseudoplatystoma corruscans (Osteichthyes, Pimelodidae) from the Parana River, Brazil: A morphological and morphometric study

This paper describes the parasite Henneguya corruscans n. sp. which infects the gills of Pseudoplatystoma corruscans Spix and Agassiz, 1829 found in the Parana River, Brazil. The parasites belong to the interlamellar-epithelial type as defined by Molnar (2002)] Molnar, K., 2002. Site preference of fish myxosporeans in the gills. Dis. Aquat. Org. 48, 197-207]. The spores examined had thin, smooth walls with symmetric valves; the total length of the spores was 27.6 (25-29) mu m. The spore body was ellipsoidal in frontal view and biconvex in lateral view and they measured 14.3 (13-15) mu m long by 5 mu m wide and 4 mu m in thickness. The polar capsules were small and elongated, equally sized, with a rounded posterior extremity and tapering anteriorly, and they Corresponded more or less the half the length of the spore body; they were 6.8 (6-7) mu m long by 2 mu m wide, and the polar filament formed 5-6 coils obliquely to the axis of the polar capsule. The tail was 13.7 (12-15) mu m long and bifurcated shortly after the end of the spore body. The importance of the infection for the farming of P. corruscans is discussed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.