Myxosporeans of the genus Ortholinea have a worldwide distribution and infect organs and tissues of exclusively marine fishes. Here we describe the morphological and molecular characteristics of Ortholinea mullusi sp. nov. parasitizing the urinary bladder and kidney tubules of red mullet Mullus barbatus collected from the coastal zone of Sinop in the Black Sea, Turkey. Polysporic plasmodia with immature spores were either elongate, 37.0 ± 4.5 SD (30-50) µm long and 45.0 ± 3.8 (40-55) µm wide, or were round, up to 100.0 µm in diameter. Mature, free spores were spherical in the frontal view and measured 9.3 ± 0.2 (9.0-9.7) µm in length, 8.7 ± 0.3 (8.2-9.3) µm in width and 7.7 ± 0.1 (7.5-7.9) µm in thickness. We observed 2 polar capsules of equal size, which measured 3.1 ± 0.1 (3.0-3.2) µm long by 2.5 ± 0.1 (2.4-2.6) µm wide, and the tips of the polar capsules were open towards the sutural line. The prevalence of infection by O. mullusi sp. nov. was 24.5%. Phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) clearly suggested O. mullusi to be a new species, clustered within a lineage comprising O. labracis and O auratae. Pairwise nucleotide similarities and DNA distance values between O. mullusi sp. nov. and sister Ortholinea species also supported this suggestion.
Members of the genus Kudoa are typically histozoic and only a few are coelozoic parasites, mainly in marine fishes. In the present study, 2 novel Kudoa species were recovered and described as Kudoa niluferi sp. nov. in the musculature of Neogobius melanostomus and Kudoa anatolica sp. nov. in the musculature, urinary bladder and kidney of Atherina hepsetus collected from the coast of Sinop on the Black Sea. Means ± SD (ranges) of mature spores of K. niluferi sp. nov. were 5.9 ± 0.1 (5.7-6.1) µm in length, 9.2 ± 0.2 (8.8-9.5) µm in width and 7.5 ± 0.3 (7.0-8.1) µm in thickness, while those of K. anatolica sp. nov. were 4.1 ± 0.3 (3.5-4.1) µm in length, 7.1 ± 0.2 (6.7-7.2) µm in width and 5.7 ± 0.2 (5.3-6.0) µm in thickness. In both parasite species, length and width of the 4 polar capsules were not equal and formed 3 distinct size classes, largest (1), intermediate (2) and smallest (1) in size. The prevalence and intensity of infection by K. niluferi sp. nov. were 12.8% and 20-29 parasites (per field-of-view, at 200× magnification), respectively, in the musculature of N. melanostomus. These values for K. anatolica sp. nov. were 32.1% and 10-19 parasites in the musculature as well as 2.9% and 20-29 parasites jointly in the kidney and urinary bladder of A. hepsetus. Phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear small subunit rDNA also suggested K. niluferi and K. anatolica as 2 novel species. These species appeared in the same lineage with K. nova and formed a Black Sea lineage.
Members of the class Myxosporea Bütschli, 1881 have a cosmopolitan distribution in a wide variety of fish species worldwide. In the present study, the black scorpionfish Scorpaena porcus collected from the Sinop coasts of the Black Sea was investigated for myxosporean parasites using both conventional and molecular methods in the period between September 2015 and August 2019. Using morphological and morphometric data, the myxosporean parasite Ceratomyxa scorpaeni Garbouj, Rangel, Castro, Hmissi, Santos, Bahri, 2016 was identified in the gall bladder of host fish. Molecular analysis of the 18S rDNA gene confirmed the identity of this parasite as C. scorpaeni. This is the first report of its occurrence in the Black Sea.
In the present study, 2 species of myxozoan parasites, the novel Ceratomyxa scophthalmi sp. nov. and Myxidium finnmarchicum, were documented from the gallbladder of Scophthalmus maeoticus inhabiting the Turkish Black Sea coast at Sinop. C. scophthalmi sp. nov. had mostly spherical, clavate, and fine-grained polymorphic plasmodia that ranged in diameter from 16.0 to 29.0 µm. Spores were arcuate with a convex anterior margin and concave posterior. Valves of spores were highly elongated and unequal in thickness with one valve 1.1-1.3 times thicker than the other. Valves narrowed gradually toward slightly truncated ends. The mean (range) dimensions of spores were 9.4 (8.5-10.0) µm in length and 49.6 (44.5-55.0) µm in thickness, with polar capsules that were 3.1 (2.7-3.5) µm in length and 3.2 (2.7-3.5) µm in width. Polar filaments were coiled with 4-5 turns. Large numbers of immature forms of C. scophthalmi sp. nov., which were often ‘crumpled’, and mature forms were found together in the gallbladder bile. Along with morphological differences, phylogenetic analysis based on 18S rDNA, including pairwise nucleotide similarities with other related Ceratomyxa species, suggests C. scophthalmi as a novel species. Moreover, this report provides the first morphological and molecular descriptions of M. finnmarchicum outside of its original geographical location and type host species.
In the present study, the plerocercoids of Grillotia erinaceus were obtained from the wall of the anterior oesophagus, stomach, pyloric caeca and liver of teleost Black Sea whiting Merlangius merlangus and adults were collected from the intestine of elasmobranch thornback rays Raja clavata caught by commercial fishing vessels off Sinop, Turkey. Standard parasitological investigation methods were applied and morphological diagnostic features of the whole parasite, bothria, scolex, tentacular armatures and tentacles were studied in detail using a light and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The plerocercoids of this parasite had a total length of 5.96 mm on average and this was 21.6 mm on average in adults. The measurement data of all morphological diagnostics are provided and photomicrographs of each part of the parasite are presented. This study also provides the detailed morphological features of both plerocercoids and adults of G. erinaceus in M. merlangus and R. clavata for the first time in the Turkish coasts of the Black Sea.
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