Description of Eimeria motelo sp. n. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the yellow footed tortoise, Geochelone denticulata (Chelonia: Testudinidae), and replacement of Eimeria carinii Lainson, Costa & Shaw, 1990 by Eimeria lainsoni nom. nov.

Abstract

Eimeria motelo sp. n. is described from faeces of the yellow-footed tortoise, Geochelone denticulata (L.). Oocysts are irregularly ellipsoidal or cylindrical, with slightly expressed lobed protrusions and irregularities at the poles, possibly caused by wrinkling of the oocyst wall, 17 (15-19) × 9.4 (8.5-11) µm, shape index (length/width) being 1.81 (1.45-2). The oocyst wall is smooth, single-layered, 0.5 µm thick with no micropyle. There are no polar bodies. Sporocysts are ellipsoidal, 8.9 (7.5-10) × 4.4 (4-5) µm, shape index 2.03 (1.7-2.5). A sporocyst residuum is present, composed of many granules of irregular size. The sporozoites are elongate, lying lengthwise in the sporocysts. Comparison with other species of the genus Eimeria parasitising members of family Testudinidae indicates that the presently described coccidium represents a new species. The name of Eimeria carinii Lainson, Costa & Shaw, 1990 is found to be preoccupied by a homonym, Eimeria carinii Pinto 1928 given to a coccidium from Rattus norvegicus. Therefore, it is replaced by Eimeria lainsoni nom. nov

A new Eimeria (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae), possessing mitra-shaped oocysts, from the Neotropical chelid turtle Batrachemys heliostemma (Testudines: Chelidae), and its comparison with Eimeria mitraria (Laveran & Mesnil 1902)

“…n., including recently discovered Eimeria from the African side-necked turtle Pelomedusa subrufa (Lacépède 1788) (Široký et al 2006). Also none of the five remaining species of genus Eimeria previously described from turtles of the Neotropical region, resembles the new species descried above (Carini 1942, Lainson 1968, Lainson et al 1990, Couch et al 1996, Lainson & Naiff 1998, Hùrková et al 2000.…”

“…Up to recently, only eight species of Eimeria were described and named from turtles of this region, three of them (E. jaboti Carini 1942, E. lainsoni Hùrková, Modrý, Koudela & Šlapeta 2000, and E. motelo Hùrková, Modrý, Koudela & Šlapeta 2000 parasitize the Yellow-footed tortoise Geochelone denticulata (Linnaeus 1766). Three others (E. lagunculata Lainson, Costa & Shaw 1990, E. mammiformis Lainson, Costa & Shaw 1990, and E. podocnemis Lainson, Costa & Shaw 1990) were described from the Arrau turtle Podocnemis expansa (Schweigger 1812) and one species was described from each of the Galápagos tortoise Geochelone nigra (Quoy & Gaimard 1824) and the Bigheaded turtle Peltocephalus dumerilianus (Schweigger 1812) (Carini 1942, Lainson et al 1990, Couch et al 1996, Lainson & Naiff 1998, Hùrková et al 2000. We had an opportunity to examine the faeces of two specimens of Batrachemys heliostemma collected at Iquitos and found a new Eimeria possessing mitra-shaped oocysts, described and named in this paper.…”

Eimeria lokuma n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae), a new coccidium from the African helmeted turtle Pelomedusa subrufa (Lacépède) (Testudines: Pelomedusidae)

“…Fifty species of eimerian coccidia have been described and named from chelonian hosts (Upton et al, 1995;Lainson & Naiff, 1998;Hu˚rkova´et al, 2000;Sˇiroky´& Modry´, 2005). Such a diversity of species has lead to overlap in the limited number of morphological characters used as the principle diagnostic features (Duszynski & Wilber, 1997).…”