Morphology and phylogeny of Henneguya jocu n. sp. (Myxosporea, Myxobolidae), infecting the gills of the marine fish Lutjanus jocu

Abstract

Henneguya jocu n. sp. (Myxosporea, Myxobolidae) is described from the gill lamellae of the marine teleost fish Lutjanus jocu, with a focus on ultrastructural and molecular features. This myxosporean forms subspherical cysts up to ∼260μm×130μm long, and develops asynchronously. Mature myxospores ellipsoidal with a bifurcated caudal process. Myxospore length 10.9±0.4μm (n=50); width, 8.2±0.3μm (n=50); and thickness, 2.9±0.5μm (n=50). Two equal caudal processes, 34.1±1.0μm long (n=50); and total myxospore length, 45.2±1.0μm (n=50). Two symmetric valves surround two ellipsoidal polar capsules, 5.0±0.3×1.4±0.2μm (n=20), each containing an isofilar polar filament forming 4–5 coils along the inner wall of these structures, as well as a binucleated sporoplasm presenting a spherical vacuole and several globular sporoplasmosomes. Both the morphological data and molecular analysis of the SSU rDNA gene identify this parasite as a new species of the genus Henneguya. Maximum Likelihood and Maximum Parsimony analyses further indicate that the parasite clusters within others marine Myxobolidae species, forming a group alongside other Henneguya species described from marine hosts.