Morphology and small subunit rDNA-based phylogeny of Ceratomyxa amazonensis n. sp. parasite of Symphysodon discus, an ornamental freshwater fish from Amazon

Abstract

The specious genus Ceratomyxa Thélodan, 1892, infect mainly gallbladder of marine fishes, with only five species reported infecting species from freshwater environment. This study performed morphological and phylogenetic analyses involving a new Ceratomyxa species (Ceratomyxa amazonensis n. sp.) found in gallbladder of Symphysodon discus Heckel, 1840 (Perciformes: Cichlidae), an important ornamental fish endemic to Amazon basin. Mature spores were strongly arcuate shaped and measured 7.0 ± 0.3 (6.2-7.6) μm in length, 15.8 ± 0.4 (15.0-16.7) μm in thickness, and polar capsules 3.22 ± 0.34 (2.4-3.6) μm in length and 2.63 ± 0.17 (2.4-2.9) μm in width. This was the first small subunit ribosomal DNA (SS rDNA) sequencing performed to Ceratomyxa species parasite of freshwater fish, and the phylogenetic analysis showed C. amazonensis n. sp. clustering in the early diverging subclade of the ceratomyxids, together with species of parasites of amphidromous/estuaries fishes, suggesting some role of the transition of the fishes between marine/freshwater environments in the evolutionary history of these parasites.

Motility, morphology and phylogeny of the plasmodial worm, Ceratomyxa vermiformis n. sp. (Cnidaria: Myxozoa: Myxosporea)

“…Ceratomyxa leatherjacketi and M. bulani , in turn, were revealed to form a basal subclade within Ceratomyxa . This basal subclade also now incorporates the newly described C. tunisiensis and C. amazonensis (Mathews et al 2016) and here we show that C. vermiformis sp. n. groups as sister to C. amazonensis .…”

“…KX278420) and molecular phylogenetic analysis performed with ML reveal that it is sister to Ceratomyxa amazonensis Mathews et al . 2016 (Fig. 9).…”

Ceratomyxa gracillima n. sp. (Cnidaria: Myxosporea) provides evidence of panmixia and ceratomyxid radiation in the Amazon basin

“…The addition of C. gracillima n. sp. to ML and MP molecular phylogenetic analyses of Ceratomyxa species provides further support for a distinct Amazonian Ceratomyxa lineage (Mathews et al 2016; Adriano and Okamura, 2017; Zatti et al 2017). Our analysis revealed C. gracillima n. sp.…”

“…primarily with other freshwater Ceratomyxa spp. and then, with other congeners from marine/brackish hosts, guided by the species checklist of Eiras (2006) and other recent taxonomic studies (Gunter et al 2009; Azevedo et al 2011; Azevedo et al 2013; Fiala et al 2015; Mathews et al 2016; Adriano and Okamura, 2017; Zatti et al 2017).…”

“…Within the Ceratomyxa , only six species have been described from strictly freshwater environments, and five of these are from the Amazon basin: C. mylei (syn. Meglitschia mylei ) (Azevedo, Ribeiro, Clemente, Casal, Lopes, Al-Quraishy and Matos, 2011), C. microlepsis (Azevedo, Rocha, Casal, Sao Clemente, Matos, Al-Quraishy and Matos, 2013), C. amazonensis (Mathews, Naldoni, Maia and Adriano, 2016), C. vermiformis Adriano and Okamura, 2017 and C. brasiliensis (Zatti, Atkinson, Bartholomew, Maia and Adriano, 2017). One of these Amazonian species, C. vermiformis , has elongated plasmodial stages that exhibit coordinated, undulatory locomotion, provided by plasmodial cytoskeleton elements, in the bile of its host (Adriano and Okamura, 2017).…”