Eimeria spp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) in Didelphis aurita Wied-Neuwied, 1826 (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) and description of a new species infecting this opossum
Author
Bezerra-Santos, Marcos Antônio
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Valenzano, Italy & Department of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil
Author
Ramos, Bárbara Cristina Félix Nogueira Rafael Antonio Nascimento
Author
Duszynski, Donald W.
Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Author
Araújo, Jackson Victor De
0000-0001-7367-4071
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil & jvictor @ ufv. br; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7367 - 4071
jvictor@ufv.br
Author
Campos, Artur Kanadani
0000-0002-8158-2553
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil & arturkanadani @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 8158 - 2553
arturkanadani@gmail.com
text
Zootaxa
2020
2020-11-16
4878
3
572
580
journal article
8017
10.11646/zootaxa.4878.3.8
ddc7730f-a4ab-49c4-af78-86ab2a21d40b
1175-5326
4425492
386DB6A9-2D2B-47BB-A80B-703A86F38727
Eimeria vicoensis
n. sp.
(
Figs. 5A, B, C
)
Type
host:
Didelphis aurita
(Wied-Neuwied 1826)
(
Didelphimorphia
:
Didelphidae
), Black-eared Opossum.
Type
locality:
South America
:
Brazil
:
Atlantic Forest
, municipality of
Viçosa
,
Minas Gerais
(
20°45´14” S
and
42°52´54” W
)
.
Other hosts:
Unknown, none to date.
Description of sporulated oocyst:
Oocyst shape: Spheroidal to subspheroidal; number of walls: 2; wall characteristics: smooth, colorless, ~1.0 thick; L x W (n = 58): 21.7 × 20.7 (20-23 × 19-23), L/W ratio: 1.05; large polar granule present, highly refractile, ~2.7 x 1.6; micropyle and oocyst residuum, both absent.
Description of sporocyst and sporozoites:
Sporocyst shape: ovoidal; L x W (n = 58): 10.6 × 8.0 (9-12 × 7-9); L/W ratio: 1.3; Stieda body present as a small structure at one end of sporocyst (
Fig. 5A
, black arrow); substieda and parastieda bodies both absent; sporocyst residuum present as a compact mass of granules; refractile bodies in sporozoites were not seen.
Prevalence:
Oocysts of this morphotype were found in 13/43 (30.2%)
D. aurita
and they always were accompanied by oocysts of one to four other
Eimeria
species.
FIGURE 4.
Eimeria caluromydis
. Stieda body (black arrow), substieda body (red arrow) and sporocyst residuum (grey arrow). Scale bar 10µm
Sporulation:
Exogenous. Oocysts were completely sporulated after a period of 7 days in 2.5% potassium dichromate solution (K
2
Cr
2
O
7
).
Prepatent and patent periods:
Unknown.
Site of infection:
Unknown, oocysts were recovered from feces after the animals defecated.
Pathogeny:
Unknown.
Materials deposited:
Photosyntypes (
Frey
et al
. 1992
) are deposited in the Parasitology Collection of the
Laboratório de Biologia de Coccídios
at the Universidade Federal Rural do
Rio de Janeiro
, Seropédica,
Rio de Janeiro
,
Brazil
, repository number is P-98/2019 (available at http://r1.ufrrj.br/labicoc/colecao.html)
.
Etymology:
The specific epithet is derived from the name of the municipality where the study was performed.
Remarks:
Our new species was described in 13/43 (30%) animals examined and its sporulated oocysts present sufficient distinctive characteristics that allowed us to distinguish it as new to science. The sporulated oocysts of
E. vicoensis
n. sp.
differs from other described
Eimeria
spp. of marsupials in several structural and morphometric pa-rameters. Most
Eimeria
spp. previously described infecting didelphid marsupials have a striated outer oocyst wall, except for
E. didelphydis
, in which this structure is smooth, as it is in our new form,
E. vicoensis
n. sp.
However, there are four consistent parameters that allow us to distinguish sporulated oocysts of these two forms. First, sporulated oocysts of
E. vicoensis
always have a highly refractile polar granule, while those of
E. didelphydis
always lack one. Second, oocyst size is a consistent distinguishing feature. The sporulated oocysts of
E. didelphydis
are smaller than those of
E. vicoensis
, L × W: 16 × 16, L/W ratio: 1.0 (spheroidal) vs 21.7 × 20.7, L/W ratio: 1.05 (subspheroidal). Two other distinguishing differences between oocysts of the two forms are in their sporocysts. Those of
E. didelphydis
are distinctly smaller than those of
E. vicoensis
, L × W: 10 × 6, L/W ratio: 1.7 vs 11 × 8, L/W ratio: 1.3, and the SR of the former consists of only a few scattered granules, while the SR of
E. vicoensis
is composed of a compact mass of large granules.