Relationships between four novel ceratomyxid parasites from the gall bladders of labrid fishes from Heron Island, Queensland, Australia

Molecular identification of cryptic species of Ceratomyxa Thélohan, 1892 (Myxosporea: Bivalvulida) including the description of eight novel species from apogonid fishes (Perciformes: Apogonidae) from Australian waters

“…Currently valid host names were taken from the California Academy of Sciences Catalogue of Fishes (http://research.calacademy.org/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp). The gall bladder of each fish was examined for the presence of Ceratomyxa infections using the methods described by Heiniger et al (2008). Infected gall bladders were preserved in 100% ethanol for DNA analysis and frozen in saline for morphological characterisation.…”

“…Measurements of spores followed the guidelines of Lom and Arthur (1989) and also followed further recommendations by Heiniger et al (2008). Images of thirty spores were taken with an Olympus BH2 microscope at 400x or 1000x magnification using a Nikon Digital Sight DS-LI digital camera (Nikon Corporation, Japan).…”

“…Large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) was amplified by PCR using the primers NLF184 5' ACCCGCTGAAYTTAAG-CATAT (Bartošová et al 2009) and NLR1270 5' TTCATCC-CGCATCGCCAGTTC (Bartošová et al 2009). PCR reactions and purification were as described by Heiniger et al (2008), with the following exceptions: annealing temperature of 56°C and 25 cycles for LSU rDNA reactions, and extension and final extension temperatures were performed at 72°C in all PCR reactions. Purified DNA was sent to Australian Genome Research Facility, The University of Queensland, Australia, for sequence determination using the same primers as used for the initial amplification.…”

“…Traditional bivalvulidan classification based on spore morphology alone to distinguish between closely related species is difficult due to the paucity of informative characters at the light microscopic level and the plasticity of spores Heiniger et al 2008;Sitja-Bobadilla and Alvarez-Pellitero 1993;Meglitsch 1960). Usually genetic variation is combined with morphological and/or biological differences to provide evidence for the recognition of novelty.…”

“…To date, 42 species have been described from the gall bladders of fishes collected from Australian waters (of which 39 are described from the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland) (Moser et al 1989;Gunter andAdlard 2008, 2009;Heiniger et al 2008;Gleeson and Adlard 2011). The inclusion of molecular characters in current myxosporean taxonomy in combination with comprehensive sampling of several host families (Labridae, Pomacentridae, Serranidae and Sparidae) has made it possible to assess the host specificity of many species of Ceratomyxa (see Gunter andAdlard 2008, 2009;Heiniger et al 2008;Alama-Bermejo et al 2011). It is now apparent that marine Ceratomyxa are, in general, highly host specific, and typically restricted to a single host species.…”