A new Myxosporea, Zschokkella soleae sp. n., was found in the gall bladder and the bile of common sole, Solea solea (L.), from Ghar El Melh Lagoon in north-east Tunisia. This is the first record for the presence of Zschokkella species in Tunisian waters. The parasite's plasmodia are polysporic with variable size and shape. Some plasmodia appeared attached to the gall bladder epithelium while others were found free in bile. Mature spores are ellipsoidal in frontal view 13.8±0.38 μm long and 10.86±0.40 μm wide with two equal size spherical polar capsules 3.6±0.43 μm in size. The prevalence of infection seems to correlate with host size and changes over the year with maximum percentage in summer. Based on the 18S rDNA sequence data, Z. soleae sp. n. is readily distinguishable from other myxozoan DNA sequences in GenBank. Phylogenetically, the new species is placed in the freshwater Myxidium clade including several Zschokkella spp. infecting the gall bladder. Morphology, histology as well as DNA sequence analysis indicate that the examined species differs from all previously described Zschokkella species.

A new marine myxosporean species, Ceratomyxa aegyptiaca n. sp. is described from the gall-bladder of Solea aegyptiaca Chabanaud collected from the Ghar El Melh Lagoon in northeastern Tunisia. Mature spores are elongate and crescent-shaped, measuring 8-11 μm in length and 48-58 μm in width. The polar capsules are spherical, 3.2-4 μm in diameter and equal in size. Trophozoites are polysporous and float free in the bile or are attached on the epithelium of the gall-bladder. Morphological data and molecular analysis based on 18S rDNA sequences are provided. The 18S rDNA of C. aegyptiaca is readily distinguishable from that of other myxozoan species, as the genetically most similar myxozoan parasite, C. seriolae Yokoyama & Fukuda, 2001 (AB530265) collected from Seriola quinqueradiata Temminck & Schlegel in Japanese waters, shares with it only 67.5% identical nucleotides over a 1,680-bp long fragment of 18S rDNA.

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Ultrastructural description of Ceratomyxa aegyptiaca Yemmen, Marton, Eszterbauer and Bahri, 2012 infecting the gallbladder of Solea aegyptiaca Chabanaud, 1927 from a tunisian north-east costal lagoon, was presented in this study. The primary cell was attached to the gallbladder epithelium and presented at one side cytoplasmic projections corresponding to pinocytotic invaginations. Netherless, early sporogonic stages development was carried with contact to the epithelial cells of gallbladder. Immature spores were identified in early sporoblasts by their valvogenic, capsulogenic and binucleated sporoplasmic cells. Capsulogenesis was asynchronous. Each capsulogenic cell presented a large condensed nucleus and a capsular primordium that extended into an external tube. The eversion and coiling of the external tube gave rise to the polar filament, which displayed six turns and an apical plug.

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A parasitological survey of Trachinus draco Linnaeus, 1758; Trachinus araneus Cuvier, 1829 and Trachinus radiatus Cuvier, 1829 collected from Tunisian coasts was performed from January 2014 to January 2015. In total, 18 species of metazoan parasites belonging to 13 genera were found: nine Myxozoa, four Nematoda, one Cestoda, one Digenea, one Monogenea, one Isopoda and one Annelida Hirudinea. Data on morphology, location and infection levels of parasites were provided. The higher species richness was recorded in Trachinus draco (18 species), while Trachinus radiatus and Trachinus araneus harbored 9 and 7 species, respectively. Species richness and diversity according to the host species and the sampling sites based on the Simpson and Shannon-Wiener indices are reported.