Description of Sarcocystis lari sp. n. (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) from the great black-backed gull, Larus marinus (Charadriiformes: Laridae), on the basis of cyst morphology and molecular data

Abstract

representatives of the genus Sarcocystis lankester, 1892 are cyst-forming coccidians, parasites of mammals, birds and reptiles, and are characterized by an obligatory prey-predator two-host life cycle (Mehlhorn and Heydorn 1978). Asexual multiplication occurs in intermediate hosts and following merogony sarcocysts are formed in the muscle tissues. the sexual phase with formation of oocysts/sporocysts takes place in the small intestine of the definitive host (Dubey et al. 1989). Until now, far over 30 named Sarcocystis species whose intermediate hosts are birds have been described (Kutkienė et al. 2012a). some avian Sarcocystis species, i.e. S. falcatula stiles, 1893 and S. calchasi olias, grubber, Hafez, Hafez, Heydorn, Mehlhorn et lierz, 2010 are pathogenic for their hosts (smith et al. 1990, olias et al. 2010a), including S. neurona Dubey, Davis, speer, Bowman, de lahunta, granstrom, topper, Hamir, cummings et suter, 1991, which parasitizes taxonomically distant mammal species, in which infects central nervous system, and was also identified in the brown headed cowbird, Molothrus ater (Boddaert) (Mansfield et al. 2008). there are only a few reports about Sarcocystis spp. parasitizing gulls (laridae). Pak and Eshtokina (1984) found cysts of Sarcocystis sp. in the common black-headed gull, Larus ridibundus (linnaeus), and in the mew gull, Larus canus (linnaeus), in Kazakhstan. in both bird species the sarcocysts found had thin and smooth cyst wall and small banana-shaped cystozoites. in canada, microcysts with a thin wall and a smooth outer surface were detected in the california gull, Larus californicus (lawrence) (Drouin and Mahrt 1980). Prakas et al. (2011a) also found thin-walled sarcocysts in the herring gull, Larus argentatus (Pontoppidan) in lithuania. on the basis of a comparative analysis of morphological data obtained by light and electron microscopy in combination with DNA data, Sarcocystis sp. from the herring gull was identified as S. wobeseri-like. in the present paper, a new species of Sarcocystis is described from the great black-backed gull, Larus marinus (linnaeus), based on morphological and molecular data. MATERIALs AND METHODs samples collection and processing for light microscopy two great black-backed gulls, found dead in Šilutė district of lithuania on 18 september 2011, were examined. Neck and leg muscles of both birds were investigated for the pres

Molecular identification of four Sarcocystis species in the herring gull, Larus argentatus, from Lithuania

“…These species had thread-like sarcocysts with a smooth cyst wall and were indistinguishable from one another under LM. Previously two Sarcocystis species were recorded in gulls: S. wobeseri was detected in L. argentatus [19] and S. lari was described based on material from L. marinus [15]. To our knowledge, S. columbae and S. halieti are detected in gulls for the first time in our study.…”

“…Under LM, a thin and smooth sarcocyst wall was described for several avian Sarcocystis species, S. calchasi, S. columbae, S. corvusi, S. halieti, S. fulicae, S. lari and S. wobeseri. These species also share similar sarcocyst wall structure under the transmission electron microscope [10,11,15,16,36,37]. Thus, Sarcocystis species discussed are apparently morphologically indistinguishable.…”

“…Herring gulls are opportunistic predators of marine invertebrates, fishes, insects and birds, as well as opportunistic scavengers of dead animals and garbage [17,18]. To date, only two Sarcocystis species, S. lari and S. wobeseri, have been described in birds of the family Laridae [15,19]. The present study provides molecular identification of four Sarcocystis species from L. argentatus that are morphologically indistinguishable under light microscopy examination.…”

“…Sarcocystis species richness detected in L. argentatus in the present study is greater than that found in other bird species. Anas platyrhynchos serves as an intermediate host for three Sarcocystis species, S. anasi, S. rileyi and S. wobeseri [10,15,[27][28][29][30]. According to current knowledge, other birds can be involved as intermediate hosts for one or two Sarcocystis species [14-16, 31, 32].…”

“…Some species, such as S. falcatula, S. calchasi and S. wobeseri are not strictly specific to the intermediate host and could form sarcocysts in birds of several different orders [10][11][12][13]. By contrast, other species like S. fulicae, S. lari and S. ramphastosi are strictly specific to a single bird species [14][15][16].…”