Henneguya ghaffari Ali (Dis Aquat Org 38:225-230, 1999), which was originally described in Lake Wadi El-Rayan in the western desert of Egypt, has been discovered in the gills of the Nile perch, Lates niloticus, sourced from the River Nile at Beni-Suef governorate. The species identification was based on the spore morphometry. Of 180 Nile perch, 68 were found to be naturally infected with H. ghaffari (37.7%). A significant seasonal fluctuation in the prevalence was discerned, with the maximum rate occurring in the winter (68.8%) and the minimum rate in the summer (8.8%). The plasmodia of the parasite were evident as white rods, occupying almost a third of the gill filament and with mean dimensions of 0.7 × 0.2 mm. Histological investigations revealed that the present plasmodia were potentially compatible with the intrafilamental type. Infection with H. ghaffari initiated epithelial hyperplasia and curling and atrophy of the respiratory lamellae, which underpin its deleterious effect on the host by decreasing the functional respiratory surface of the gills. The present study concluded that infection with H. ghaffari originated in the River Nile before moving to the new ecosystem of Lake Wadi El-Rayan through drainage water.

The validity, impacts and seasonal prevalence of Henneguya suprabranchiae infecting Clarias gariepinus from the River Nile were studied. The overall prevalence was 35% (84/240) with maximum rate of infection in spring and minimum rate of infection in summer. The development of the cyst-like plasmodia was "the intrafilamental type'. Henneguya suprabranchiae is a pathogenic species as the parasite showed high intensity of infection which led to deformation of the filament structure and complete disappearance of the gill lamellae. The validity of H. suprabranchiae compared to the other described species of the same host was discussed.

The present study was carried out as part of an ongoing general survey for myxosporean parasites infecting tilapias in the River Nile, Egypt. In the present study, 77 Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were collected from boat landing sites at Beni-Suef governorate, Egypt and examined for the myxosporean infection. The infection was encountered as a huge number of free spores in the kidney and the spleen. The infection showed a prevalence of 51.9% (40/77) for Myxobolus brachysporus while it was 25.9% (20/77) for Myxobolus israelensis. Mature spores of M. brachysporus were ellipsoidal and measured 8.6 × 13.2 μm. The polar capsules were subcircular with 5-6 filament turns and measured 4.7 × 3.6 μm. Spores of M. israelensis were ellipsoidal in the frontal view and fusiform in the lateral view. Spore measurements were 13.4 μm long and 8.7 μm wide. The polar capsules were elongated with 6-7 filament coils and measured 8.6 × 3.1 μm. The findings presented here proved that tilapia fishes in the Nile River are still suffering from infections with Myxobolus species. Therefore, further studies should be carried out to survey the Myxobolus infection among tilapias under culture conditions to clarify the pathological impacts of this parasite in tilapias aquaculture.

Redescription of Myxobolus niloticus Fahmy et al. 1971, from tail fin of Labeo niloticus is presented in this paper to complete the Fahmy et al. description. The seasonal variation and the histological impacts of the parasite are described as well. In the present work, new data on the spore morphology were obtained with the use of light microscopy, which made it possible to be redescribe. The prevalence of infection was 20.8%. The infection caused mild fin lesions, which can be negligible. The low-intensity infection found in the present study caused only minor deformity of the fins.

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