Morphology and phylogeny of Coccomyxa bragantinensis n. sp. (Cnidaria: Myxozoa) found parasitising the Coco Sea catfish, Bagre bagre (Siluriformes: Ariidae), captured off the coast of Northern Brazil

Abstract

The present study describes Coccomyxa bragantinensis n. sp., which was found parasitising the gallbladder of the Coco Sea catfish, Bagre bagre, captured off Ajuruteua beach, in the region of Bragança in Pará state, northern Brazil. Most (77.5%) of the 40 fish specimens examined (31/40) had myxospores floating in the bile liquid. These spores are partially ellipsoid, with a tapering anterior extremity and a rounded, elongated posterior extremity with a single piriform polar capsule containing a helicoidal polar filament, with 5–6 coils. A partial sequence of 957 bp of the SSU rDNA gene was obtained from the specimens and deposited in GenBank (xxx). The new species described here – Coccomyxa bragantinensis n. sp. – is phylogenetically similar to Coccomyxa morovi, although it differs from all the other Coccomyxa species and is the first species of this genus to be described from Brazil on the basis of molecular evidence.